U.S. carries out 13th and final execution under Trump administration

The federal prison complex in Terre Haute, Ind.
(Image credit: AP Photo/Michael Conroy, File)

The United States government on Friday night executed Dustin Higgs — the 13th federal death row inmate to be executed since the Justice Department resumed federal capital punishment in July 2019 after a 17-year gap — at the federal penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana.

The Supreme Court declined to stay the final execution under the Trump administration, despite an appeal from Higgs' attorney Shawn Nolan, although some justices dissented. Justice Sonia Sotomayor called it an "unprecedented rush," arguing the government "should have proceeded with some measure of restraint to ensure it did so lawfully."

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Tim O'Donnell

Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.