Federal Execution Restart: 13 Executions in 6 Months — Including First Woman in 67 Years
The Trump DOJ resumed federal executions in July 2020 after 17 years with no federal executions. The 13 executions were the most in any comparable period since at least the 1940s. Attorney General Barr overrode objections from career death penalty specialists about the single-drug protocol. Multiple executions were carried out over last-minute legal challenges. Lisa Montgomery, the first woman executed by the federal government since 1953, was executed despite documented severe mental illness and a history of extreme childhood sexual abuse.
Record summary
Grade
Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern
Systematic actions that undermine fundamental constitutional or international legal protections at the structural level. Scale and definitions
- Status
- Concluded
- Incident date
- Record updated
- Location
- USP Terre Haute, Indiana
- Category
- Rule of Law
- Legal posture
- Executive action
- War-crime classification
- Enabling conduct
- Verification
- Independently verified
- ICC relevance
- No
- Sources
- 4 cited
- Stable ID
trump-first-term-federal-executions-restart- Victims
- 13 individuals executed under the Trump federal execution restart; Lisa Montgomery (executed despite documented severe mental illness); inmates executed over active court-ordered stays
- Alleged responsible parties
- Donald Trump, President of the United States— White House
- William Barr, Attorney General; directed execution restart— Department of Justice
Key points
- 13 federal executions were carried out between July 2020 and January 2021 — more than any U.S. president had authorized in a comparable period in modern times
- Three of the 13 executions occurred during the presidential transition, between Biden's November 2020 election and his January 20, 2021 inauguration — over explicit objections from Biden and his incoming administration
- Lisa Montgomery, executed January 13, 2021, was the first woman executed by the federal government since 1953; her attorneys documented extreme childhood sexual abuse and severe mental illness; the execution proceeded over last-minute emergency appeals
- Attorney General Barr authorized a single-drug pentobarbital protocol over objections from career death penalty specialists; challenges to the protocol reached the Supreme Court multiple times
- At least several executions were carried out over active court-ordered stays that the administration sought to override — a highly unusual pattern that multiple federal judges criticized
- Amnesty International and other human rights organizations condemned the execution surge as a 'killing spree' unprecedented in modern U.S. history
Overview
After 17 years in which the federal government had carried out no executions, the Trump administration executed 13 people in seven months — more than any administration in the modern era.
The pace was deliberate. The timing was deliberate. Three of the 13 executions occurred during the presidential transition, after Biden had been elected and had publicly stated his opposition to the death penalty. The outgoing administration rushed to carry out as many executions as possible before losing power.
Lisa Montgomery
The Montgomery execution was the most contested. Her attorneys had filed extensive documentation: a childhood of extreme physical and sexual abuse — she was sold to men for sex by her own mother from a very young age — that had left her with severe mental illness including a delusional disorder. Multiple justices on the Supreme Court had separately noted concerns about her mental state and competency.
The execution proceeded.
She was the first woman executed by the federal government since 1953. There had been a 67-year gap for good reason: the application of the death penalty to women in the United States had been rare and was subject to heightened scrutiny. That scrutiny was set aside.
The Pattern
The 13 executions were not the result of a careful case-by-case process. They were a bulk action — a decision to restart executions after a 17-year pause and proceed at maximum speed, over legal objections, over active court-ordered stays, over the objections of incoming President Biden.
Barr directed the restart. Trump authorized it. The executions were carried out.
International law engaged
| Instrument | Provision | What it protects or prohibits |
|---|---|---|
| Convention Against Torture | Article 16 | Prohibition on cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment — single-drug pentobarbital protocol challenged as potentially causing suffering; executions of severely mentally ill individuals raise Article 16 concerns |
| International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights | Article 6 | Right to life — the ICCPR's Second Optional Protocol requires states that have not abolished the death penalty to apply the most stringent safeguards; rushing executions over active legal challenges raises Article 6 concerns |
Update log
-
Updated with final executions before inauguration.
Sequence of events
-
Barr announces execution restart
Attorney General Barr announces the DOJ will resume federal executions after a 17-year hiatus, adopting a new single-drug pentobarbital lethal injection protocol.
-
First execution — Daniel Lewis Lee
Daniel Lewis Lee is executed at USP Terre Haute — the first federal execution since 2003. The execution is carried out despite last-minute appeals from victims' family members who had asked for a delay. It proceeds over a federal court stay that the government asks the Supreme Court to lift at 2 a.m.
-
Executions continue after election
With Biden having won the election, the Trump administration carries out additional executions, including Orlando Hall (November 19). Biden has said he opposes the death penalty and will work to end federal executions.
-
Lisa Montgomery executed — first woman since 1953
Lisa Montgomery is executed by lethal injection. Her attorneys had filed extensive documentation of her history of extreme childhood sexual and physical abuse and resulting severe mental illness. Multiple Supreme Court justices had noted concerns about her mental state. The execution proceeds.
-
Final executions — Corey Johnson and Dustin Higgs
Corey Johnson and Dustin Higgs are executed four days before Biden's inauguration — the final executions of the Trump administration's 13-execution surge. Johnson's attorneys had documented he had intellectual disabilities; the execution proceeds.
Sources
- Federal Government Carries Out First Execution in 17 Years — The New York Times
- Lisa Montgomery becomes first woman executed by federal government in 67 years — The Washington Post
- USA: Trump and Barr's killing spree must stop — Amnesty International
- Trump administration executes 13 people in last months of term — The Associated Press