吃瓜直播 Sues Federal Government for Risking Lives to Resume Executions During Pandemic
Buddhist Priest Should not Have to Choose Between his Health and Performing Sacred Religious Duties for Prisoner Set to be Executed in July
INDIANAPOLIS 鈥� Seeking to delay the federal execution of Wesley Purkey later this month, the 吃瓜直播 and Ropes Gray LLP sued Attorney General William Barr and other federal officials today on behalf of Reverend Seigen Hartkemeyer, a Buddhist priest who has ministered to Purkey for over a decade. Rev. Hartkemeyer is religiously obligated to attend Purkey鈥檚 execution 鈥� scheduled for July 15 鈥� but doing so would put his health and life at severe risk due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Purkey鈥檚 execution is the second of three that the government has scheduled back to back later this month, despite a global pandemic. If carried out, these will be the first federal executions in 17 years. The executions threaten to become 鈥渟uper-spreader events鈥� for COVID-19: Each execution will require the travel and congregation of hundreds of people, including correctional officers, local and national media, legal counsel from around the country, witnesses, victims鈥� family members, and others. The Terre Haute prison at which Purkey鈥檚 execution is set to take place is currently dealing with a COVID-19 outbreak.
鈥淭he fact that the federal government has scheduled these executions now, during a pandemic when COVID-19 cases are surging around the country, is appalling,鈥� said Cassandra Stubbs, director of the 吃瓜直播鈥檚 Capital Punishment Project. 鈥� hotspots for COVID-19 are in prisons. Asking hundreds of people from around the country to go to Indiana right now to attend this execution is like asking them to run into a burning building. We haven鈥檛 had a federal execution in 17 years: There is absolutely no reason for the government to rush forward with such a reckless and dangerous plan.鈥�
Rev. Hartkemeyer 鈥� who is 68-years-old and has lung-related illnesses that make him particularly vulnerable to COVID-19 鈥� has been designated as a witness to Purkey鈥檚 execution. Federal regulations mandate that such designated witnesses be present at the execution. The lawsuit charges that scheduling this execution now 鈥� and forcing Rev. Hartkemeyer to risk his health and life to perform his religious duties as Purkey鈥檚 priest 鈥� violates the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.
鈥淎s Mr. Purkey鈥檚 priest for the last 11 years, I have a religious obligation to be present at his execution to ease his crossover from this life,鈥� said Rev. Hartkemeyer, the plaintiff in this case. 鈥淚 should not have to risk my health and life to perform my sacred priestly duties. We must ask ourselves how much we are willing to sacrifice to enable the government to perpetuate a cycle of killing.鈥�
鈥淭rump officials claim to champion religious freedom, yet once again have no qualms about trampling those rights when it suits their political agenda,鈥� said Heather L. Weaver, senior staff attorney for the 吃瓜直播鈥檚 Program on Freedom of Religion and Belief. 鈥淭here is no reason to resume federal executions during a pandemic, especially when it would keep a priest from performing his religious commitments to a man about to lose his life.鈥�
In the past year, the Supreme Court has delayed executions in two cases addressing whether a prisoner may have his spiritual advisor present in the execution chamber. Last month, the court stopped the execution of in Texas and ordered the lower court to assess whether his pastor could safely accompany him in the execution chamber. Similarly, the court intervened last year when , a Buddhist man, was denied the right to have a Buddhist chaplain accompany him during the execution. The court鈥檚 actions followed a public uproar after the justices allowed the execution of to go forward in February 2019. Ray was a Muslim prisoner in Alabama, where the government would allow only a Christian chaplain in the execution chamber.
Today鈥檚 lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana. In addition to Attorney General Barr, the complaint names as defendants Michael Carvajal, director of the Bureau of Prisons, and T.J. Watson, the warden of the Terre Haute federal correctional complex. Rev. Hartkemeyer asks the court to delay Purkey鈥檚 execution until an effective treatment or vaccine for COVID-19 is available.
The complaint is online, here.
A blog from Rev. Hartkemeyer can be found, here.
Learn More 吃瓜直播 the Issues in This Press Release
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Press ReleaseMay 2025
Capital Punishment
Court Issues Order Finding Extensive And Irredeemable Defects In The Application Of The Death Penalty In Kansas. Explore Press Release.Court Issues Order Finding Extensive and Irredeemable Defects in the Application of the Death Penalty in Kansas
KANSAS CITY, Kan. 鈥� After hearing a historic challenge to the constitutionality of the death penalty and the practice of death qualification, a Kansas trial court has issued a written order finding extensive and irredeemable defects in the application of the death penalty over the last 30 years. The court declined to rule on the ultimate questions regarding the constitutionality of the state鈥檚 death penalty and the practice of death qualification because the individuals who brought the challenge no longer faced the death penalty. In its opinion the court highlighted that: The death penalty is not a deterrent. 鈥淭he scientific community has found no reliable evidence of the death penalty being a deterrent to homicides.鈥� The death penalty is costly. 鈥淢ore than $4 million has been spent with the results being no death penalty sentences and zero executions.鈥� Racial bias infects capital prosecutions. 鈥淭he factors which distinguish death sentence cases from non-death sentence cases are the race and gender of the victim, and the race and gender of the defendant.鈥� Courts have been unable to ensure capital juries are free of racial bias. 鈥淸The legal framework for limiting discrimination in jury selection] is so flawed that it does not protect racial biases in jury selection and must be reformed, a fact known to Kansans for years.鈥� 鈥淚n each of the four cases where we raised this challenge in Kansas, none of our clients ultimately faced capital trials where the death penalty remained on the table,鈥� said Cassandra Stubbs, director of the 吃瓜直播鈥檚 Capital Punishment Project. 鈥淭hat is no coincidence. The evidentiary hearings have consistently exposed uncomfortable truths to state prosecutors, the courts, and the public about the deep flaws and injustices embedded in the death penalty system. While we are relieved that none of our clients have received death sentences, the systemic issues that these cases have brought to light persist. We remain committed to challenging the death penalty on behalf of people facing capital charges in Kansas, with the hope that state legislators will end the death penalty and make future legal challenges unnecessary.鈥� The 吃瓜直播, the 吃瓜直播 of Kansas, Democracy Forward, the Kansas Death Penalty Defense Unit, Hogan Lovells, and Ali & Lockwood represented two individuals, Hugo Villaneuva-Morales and Antoine Fielder, in their constitutional pre-trial challenges to the death penalty in Wyandotte County. Following extensive pre-trial litigation, including the weeklong evidentiary hearing challenging the death penalty, the cases were resolved without the death penalty. The state and Mr. Fielder entered into a plea agreement and Mr. Fielder was sentenced to life without parole. The prosecution tried Mr. Villanueva-Morales for capital murder but ultimately withdrew its request for the death penalty. Because the two men no longer faced the prospect of a capital sentence, the court declined to address the broader constitutional claims. -
News & CommentaryApr 2025
Capital Punishment
Death Row Case Exposes Failures To Protect Childhood Trauma Survivors. Explore News & Commentary.Death Row Case Exposes Failures to Protect Childhood Trauma Survivors
Mikal Mahdi鈥檚 life was marked by abuse. Today, as he awaits execution, the courts have the responsibility to acknowledge the systemic failures that shaped his path. -
Florida Supreme CourtDec 2024
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Michael Jackson V. State Of Florida. Explore Case.Michael Jackson v. State of Florida
This case gets at the very heart of our right to a jury trial. Traditionally and historically, the right to a jury trial has promised that a person could not be punished unless every single person in a group of one鈥檚 peers agreed, by jury vote, that that was the just outcome. However, Florida feels differently. When it comes to the death penalty, Florida is one of only two states that has decided that the 鈥渞ight to a trial by jury鈥� does not guarantee that a person will be sentenced to death by a unanimous jury. Instead, in Florida, a person can be sentenced to die even if four people on their jury think they should live. The state requires just eight of twelve jury votes for a death sentence, which not only disproportionately affects people of color, but the very ideals at the heart of the rights of citizenship. -
Press ReleaseFeb 2025
Capital Punishment
Aclu Responds To Supreme Court Decision In Glossip V. Oklahoma. Explore Press Release.吃瓜直播 Responds to Supreme Court Decision in Glossip v. Oklahoma
WASHINGTON 鈥� In a major win for due process, the U.S. Supreme Court today granted Richard Glossip, a man on Oklahoma鈥檚 death row, a new trial and a chance to be fully exonerated. Richard Glossip was convicted in 1998 and sentenced to death for allegedly asking Justin Sneed 鈥� the prosecution鈥檚 star witness 鈥� to murder another man. Sneed's testimony was the only direct evidence connecting Glossip to the murder, and Glossip maintained his innocence throughout. His conviction was overturned by the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals but, despite inconsistent testimony from Sneed at retrial, Glossip was convicted again. It was only then, after two trials and two appeals, that an independent investigation revealed that the prosecution had deliberately destroyed key evidence and additional potentially exculpatory and impeachment evidence was made available to the defense. Those files revealed that Sneed lied at trial about facts that cast his entire testimony into doubt. Despite these new revelations about prosecutorial misconduct, Glossip unsuccessfully sought post-conviction relief, until the Supreme Court last year stayed his execution and agreed to hear the case. 鈥淩ichard Glossip has been fighting for two decades to prove his innocence; today the Supreme Court assured that he will finally have his day in court,鈥� said Brian Stull, deputy director of the 吃瓜直播鈥檚 Capital Punishment Project. 鈥淭oday鈥檚 decision reveals the error-prone and arbitrary nature of the death penalty, and the devastating impact of false testimony and wrongfully withheld evidence. Even after it became clear that prosecutors had buried exculpatory evidence, the machinery of the death penalty continued to grind on for years. This case shows that we cannot trust the state convict and imprison only the innocent, let alone to ensure that innocent people are never strapped to the execution table. It is long past time to end the death penalty in our country.鈥� The 吃瓜直播 filed an amicus brief in the case, arguing that prosecutors violated Glossip鈥檚 due process rights by failing to disclose exculpatory evidence and using Sneed鈥檚 false testimony to convict Glossip. The brief further highlights Oklahoma鈥檚 sordid history of violating these rights. 鈥淭ime after time, Oklahoma prosecutors have violated these precedents, despite repeated notice that their actions were not in compliance with the U.S. Constitution,鈥� the brief reads. This glaring pattern of errors almost led to the execution of an innocent person. It teaches that the government cannot be trusted to reliably, fairly, and equitably determine who should live and who should die. Glossip v. Oklahoma is part of the 吃瓜直播's Joan and Irwin Jacobs Supreme Court Docket.