Lawyers for two men awaiting execution next week at the federal penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana are challenging the government’s execution protocol under the 8 th Amendment.
Federal death row prisoners Cory Johnson and Dustin Higgs contracted COVID-19 last month. Their attorneys told a federal judge the virus caused scarring on their clients’ lungs that makes them more vulnerable to “excruciating pain” during the lethal injection process.
The 8 th Amendment bars cruel and unusual punishment.
District Judge Tanya Chuktan heard arguments Tuesday from both the government and the death row inmates’ attorneys.
She did not say when she would issue a ruling.
This story will be updated.
