US executes Virginia gang killer despite COVID-19 infection
Johnson is scheduled to be executed Thursday, Jan. 14, 2021, at the federal prison in Terre Haute. Corey Johnson's execution went ahead after his lawyers scrambled to stop it on grounds that the lethal injection of pentobarbital would cause him excruciating pain due to lung damage from his coronavirus infection last month. Iโm OK.โSeconds later, he said softly while gazing intently at same room, โLove you.โAfter the execution, his lawyers released Johnson's last statement. Johnsonโs execution and Fridayโs scheduled execution of Dustin Higgs are the last before next weekโs inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden, who opposes the federal death penalty and has signaled heโll end its use. He and two other members of the Newtowne gang were sentenced to death under a federal law that targets large-scale drug traffickers.
Drug dealer convicted in 7 killings could face execution
FILE - This Aug. 28, 2020, file photo shows the federal prison complex in Terre Haute, Ind. Johnson is scheduled to be executed Thursday, Jan. 14, 2021, at the federal prison in Terre Haute. He and two other members were sentenced to death under a federal law that targets large-scale drug traffickers. In their clemency petition, Johnson's lawyers asked Trump to commute his death sentence to life in prison. In his clemency petition, Johnson's lawyers said he has repeatedly expressed โsincere remorseโ for his crimes.
Lawyers: 2nd US inmate scheduled to be executed has COVID-19
CHICAGO โ A second federal inmate scheduled to be put to death next month in a series of executions by the Trump administration has tested positive for COVID-19, his lawyers said Friday. Johnsonโs lawyers, Donald Salzman and Ronald Tabak, called on federal authorities to strike their clientโs current execution date of Jan. 14. It has executed more people in a single year than any other administration in more than 130 years. The Bureau of Prisons confirmed in a statement to The Associated Press on Thursday that inmates held on federal death row โ known as the Special Confinement Unit โ have tested positive for COVID-19. As of Thursday, there were more than 300 inmates with confirmed cases of COVID-19 at FCC Terre Haute.
'Big Sky' producers recognize Native American criticism
Native American tribes and coalitions are condemning Big Sky, a Montana-set ABC drama, for ignoring the history of violence inflicted on Indigenous women and instead making whites the crime victims. On Tuesday, the makers of โBig Skyโ broke their silence. They cited โSomebody's Daughter,โ a documentary detailing the murdered and missing Indigenous women and girls crisis, as it's known to those fighting the scourge. Theyโre not asking for โBig Skyโ to be taken off the air,โ he said, but instead be used to inform. While Lightning said she was โa little bit shockedโ when she saw a Native American tragedy mirrored in a story but without Native American characters, her years working in Los Angeles meant she wasnโt surprised.
NYC might ban wireless companies from selling your location data
In the terms of service cell phone customers have to sign (and few read), people give wireless companies the ability to collect and sell their location data. He added, "It's Big Brother Big Business, and if we don't act, it's going to get worse." Under the proposal, law enforcement agencies could still request and obtain location data legally, and so can emergency services. Federal, state or city law can still require data, and customers can still willingly provide their location data. In January, T-Mobile CEO John Legere said in a tweet that the company would end the practice of sharing location data with aggregators.