Judge Delays Execution of Only Woman on US Death Row

Judge Delays Execution of Only Woman on US Death Row
FILE - This Aug. 28, 2020, file photo shows the federal prison complex in Terre Haute, Ind. Michael Conroy/AP Photo/File
|Updated:

WASHINGTON—A federal judge said the Justice Department unlawfully rescheduled the execution of the only woman on federal death row, potentially setting up the Trump administration to schedule the execution after inauguration day.

U.S. District Court Judge Randolph Moss also vacated an order from the director of the Bureau of Prisons that had set Lisa Montgomery’s execution date for Jan. 12. Montgomery had previously been scheduled to be put to death at the Federal Correctional Complex in Terre Haute, Indiana, this month, but Moss delayed the execution after her attorneys contracted coronavirus visiting their client and asked him to extend the amount of time to file a clemency petition.