5 Federal Prisoners With Heinous Crimes Set to be Executed Before Inauguration

By Neil P. First Posted: Nov 26, 2020 10:22 AM EST

The Department of Justice has already set a schedule to execute five federal prisoners before Joe Biden's inauguration in January.

With just less than 60 days before Joe Biden take his oath as the 42nd U.S. president, there are five federal prisoners scheduled to be executed. This is so far the unprecedented record during the last leg of a presidential term, according to MSN.

It can be remembered that Attorney General William Barr resumed the federal execution last year after it was put into hiatus for 17 years. The main reason why it was resumed is to bring justice to victims of the most horrific crimes.

There were legal attempts asking extensions to complete clemency petitions, requests for reprieve, commutation or clemency, and appeals to the Supreme Court.

In spite of these appeals, there are eight federal inmates who have been put to death so far this year.

5 Federal Prisoners With Heinous Crimes Set to be Executed Before Inauguration

(Photo : Unsplash/Matthew Ansley)

Here are the five federal prisoners who are already set to be executed before the year ends.

1. Alfred Bourgeois

He is a Black man and was sentenced to death by a Texas jury. According to the report obtained from a news outlet, he abused, tortured, and beat his daughter that led to her death in 2002. On Friday, his lawyer said that his client is scheduled to be executed on December 11.

2. Brandon Bernard

Brandon Bernard was 18 years old along with Christopher Vialva and others when they were convicted for the 1999 murder in Texas. It was reported that they murdered a pair of ministers in Texas.

On Thursday, Bernard's request to the Supreme Court to extend his stay in the prison was denied. His date of execution will be on December 10 and he will also be the youngest to be executed in nearly 70 years that the U.S. will execute for a crime committed while a teenager.

3. Lisa Montgomery

Lisa Montgomery is the only woman to be executed in nearly 70 years. She was convicted in 2004 after she killed a pregnant woman by cutting the baby out and passing it off as her own.

Her request to stay in the prison cell was granted and extended until December 31 after her lawyer tested positive for COVID-19. Her execution will be on Jan. 12.

4. Corey Johnson

Johnson's execution is scheduled for January 14. He was convicted after he killed seven people in 1992 as a part of the drug trade in Virginia.

His lawyer requested to spare him from execution because his IQ is 69, lower than the standard that the Supreme Court offered as a guide. However, his lawyers claimed none of the juries heard the intellectual disability of their client.

5. Dustin Higgs

Dustin Higgs is scheduled to be executed on January 15. His lawyer Shawn Nolan said in a statement after the Justice Department's announcement on Friday that Higgs will be executed despite not killing anyone.

However, his co-defendant and the convicted triggerman received life without parole for the 1996 killings of three women in Maryland. Higgs will be executed under the theory that even if he did not pull the trigger, one of his co-defendants said that he had ordered the killings.