U.S. executes first woman on federal death row in nearly seven decades

[snoop1130]

U.S. executes first woman on federal death row in nearly seven decades

By Bhargav Acharya and Kanishka Singh

 

FILE PHOTO: Convicted murderer Lisa Montgomery pictured at the Federal Medical Center (FMC) Fort Worth in an undated photograph. Courtesy of Attorneys for Lisa Montgomery/Handout via REUTERS./File Photo/File Photo

 

(Reuters) - The U.S. government executed convicted murderer Lisa Montgomery, the only woman on federal death row, on Wednesday, after the Supreme Court cleared the last hurdle by overturning a stay.

 

Montgomery was the first female prisoner to be executed in by the U.S. government since 1953.

 

Challenges were fought across multiple federal courts on whether to allow the execution of Montgomery, 52, who was put to death by lethal injection of pentobarbital, a powerful barbiturate in the Justice Department's execution chamber at its prison in Terre Haute, Indiana.

 

The U.S. Supreme Court, with its conservative majority, cleared the way for her execution after overturning a stay by the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

 

Kelley Henry, Montgomery's lawyer, called the execution "vicious, unlawful, and unnecessary exercise of authoritarian power."

 

"No one can credibly dispute Mrs. Montgomery's longstanding debilitating mental disease - diagnosed and treated for the first time by the Bureau of Prisons' own doctors," Henry said in a statement.

 

She was pronounced deceased at 1:31 a.m. EST (0631 GMT) on Wednesday, the Federal Bureau of Prisons said in a statement.

 

Montgomery was convicted in 2007 in Missouri of kidnapping and strangling Bobbie Jo Stinnett, then eight months pregnant. Montgomery cut Stinnett's fetus from the womb. The child survived.

 

Some of Stinnett's relatives traveled to witness Montgomery's execution, the Justice Department said.

 

As the execution process began, asked by a female executioner if she had any last words, Montgomery responded in a quiet, muffled voice, "No," according to a reporter who served as a media witness.

 

Federal executions had been on pause for 17 years and only three men had been executed by the federal government since 1963 until the practice resumed last year under President Donald Trump, whose outspoken support for capital punishment long predates his entry into politics.

 

Montgomery's lawyers asked for Trump's clemency last week, saying she committed her crime after a childhood in which she was abused and repeatedly raped by her stepfather and his friends, and so should instead face life in prison.

 

It was one of three executions the U.S. Department of Justice had scheduled for the final full week of Trump's administration. Two other executions scheduled for Thursday and Friday have been delayed, for now at least, by a federal judge in Washington, to allow the condemned murderers to recover from COVID-19.

 

The American Civil Liberties Union and some liberal lawmakers had previously opposed the government's plans to execute Montgomery, with ACLU saying her life had been "marred by unthinkable trauma that resulted in documented brain damage and mental illness".

 

Montgomery's execution was the first of 2021 by the federal government and the 11th since last year.

 

In 2020, the U.S. government executed 10 people and it was for the first time ever that the federal government conducted more executions than all U.S. states combined, according to a database compiled by the Death Penalty Information Center.

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2021-01-13

 

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[nausea]

14 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

Two other executions scheduled for Thursday and Friday have been delayed, for now at least, by a federal judge in Washington, to allow the condemned murderers to recover from COVID-19.

Well, rights and wrongs of capital punishment aside, a bit of a flimsy reason to me, unless they were on ventilators or something, which they're not; it seems there's a "possibility" their poor damaged lungs "might" cause some extra pain.

 

Now, that's all well and good, except that the execution of Mrs. Montgomery, went ahead.

 

So the net result is that a mentally impaired woman is executed whilst two perfectly sane guys get a stay of execution on what appear to be pretty shaky grounds.

 

That's justice for you.

 

 It will seem even more incongruous if they benefit from Joe Biden ending the federal death penalty, as he's promised to do.

 

Edited January 14, 2021 by nausea

[Tug]

Donald must be proud 

[mtls2005]

The whole rush to execute Federal prisoners in The Final Days is a travesty.

 

The shortcuts and shenanigans will come to light, and many will be prosecuted.

 

https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/federal-government-resume-capital-punishment-after-nearly-two-decade-lapse

 

https://www.citizensforethics.org/reports-investigations/crew-investigations/new-records-show-trumps-doj-rushed-a-no-bid-contract-for-lethal-injection-drugs/

 

 

[Mama Noodle]

15 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

Montgomery was convicted in 2007 in Missouri of kidnapping and strangling Bobbie Jo Stinnett, then eight months pregnant. Montgomery cut Stinnett's fetus from the womb. The child survived.

 

Why should I care that this horrible human was put to death? 

[Paul Henry]

Trump reintroduced the death penalty and at the same time pardons a bundle of his cronies. Great to see Trumps supports law and order and equal justice for all.

[petermik]

7 hours ago, Mama Noodle said:

 

Why should I care that this horrible human was put to death? 

Anyone committing such evil crimes forfeit the right to life

[Pilotman]

good riddance. 

[animalmagic]

2 hours ago, Paul Henry said:

Trump reintroduced the death penalty and at the same time pardons a bundle of his cronies. Great to see Trumps supports law and order and equal justice for all.

The very fact that she strangled an 8 month pregnant woman to death before cutting out the foetus would suggest that she has mental issues in the first place.  From the reported abuse we can only guess at her mental trauma and status and I do not see any necessity to carry out the execution.  I am trying to remember which other political movement executed individuals who were mentally incapacitated??

[Yme]

Win. Should have been done much earlier

[dexterm]

Of course Lisa Montgomery was mentally unstable, killed an innocent young mother and needed to be locked up probably forever. But read about her heinously cruel upbringing where she was regularly tortured by her stepfather and mother. It must surely count for some mitigation and mercy.

 

As a 3 year old she shared a bed while her 8 year old sister was being raped by her babysitter. Then at 11 began years of herself being raped, sodomised and having her head smashed by her drunken stepfather in a secret room that wouldn't reveal her screams.  Where was the mother's love and care? She caught the stepfather once and held a gun to her daughter's head blaming the abused child. 

"Over time, the abuse expanded. Montgomery’s stepfather invited friends round to gang rape her in the room – ordeals that would last for hours and end with the men urinating on her like she was trash. Her mother got in on the act too, selling Montgomery’s body to the plumber and the electrician whenever she needed odd jobs doing."
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jan/05/lisa-montgomery-death-row-execution-history

 

How many of us would have remained mentally unscathed after such a horrendous helpless upbringing?

 

Trump can find it in his heart to pardon his corrupt cronies, and may even attempt to pardon himself for inciting a murderous insurrection amongst other crimes, but rushes to have a woman executed who has never been shown any compassion in her life.

 

Shame on all those involved.

Edited January 14, 2021 by dexterm

[4reaL]

2 minutes ago, dexterm said:

 

 

Shame on all those involved.

 

U really are compassionate for what you perceive as the underdog.

 

 

Quote

"Montgomery was convicted in 2007 in Missouri of kidnapping and strangling Bobbie Jo Stinnett, then eight months pregnant. Montgomery cut Stinnett's fetus from the womb. The child survived."

 

[dexterm]

Yes, I know what she did. That's why I said she should be locked up probably forever.

 

Trump deliberately rushed to approve the execution by the state of Lisa Montgomery knowing that in a week's time her sentence would be commuted to life.

 

Bobbie Jo Stinnet's murder was the act of a mentally defective woman.

 

The state's execution IMO is far worse...calculated cold blooded murder!

Edited January 14, 2021 by dexterm

[natway09]

Whilst I will reserve judgement on capital punishment (I still believe there are some crimes that deserve it ) the criminal system needs to accept it or reject it outright

It is not fair to anybody that the threat is hung over the prisoner, relatives etc for years, nor the immense cost to the taxpayer of keeping these people alive.

Once decided , if going to execute must be done within 6 months after legal formalities concluded.

After that time "Life Imprisonment without Parole"only & move from "death row"

[Pilotman]

4 hours ago, animalmagic said:

The very fact that she strangled an 8 month pregnant woman to death before cutting out the foetus would suggest that she has mental issues in the first place.  From the reported abuse we can only guess at her mental trauma and status and I do not see any necessity to carry out the execution.  I am trying to remember which other political movement executed individuals who were mentally incapacitated??

nobody who murders is right mentally, so that is no excuse nor mitigation.  

[ThaiFelix]

8 hours ago, Tug said:

Donald must be proud 

Lets hope they are just making sure there is a "suite" available for Donald next week!

[Proboscis]

5 hours ago, animalmagic said:

The very fact that she strangled an 8 month pregnant woman to death before cutting out the foetus would suggest that she has mental issues in the first place.  From the reported abuse we can only guess at her mental trauma and status and I do not see any necessity to carry out the execution.  I am trying to remember which other political movement executed individuals who were mentally incapacitated??

The level of abuse that this woman experienced as a pre-teen, including repeated rape by her own father, was never taken into account. Her half-sister was taken into foster care and survived without being abused and is a fully functioning member of society today. The state for whatever reason did not take Lisa Montgomery as a child into care. It is the state that holds responsibility here, as well as her by now long dead parents and others who abused her.

[AndyFoxy]

Glad she’s gone. Sounds like a nasty woman.

[unblocktheplanet]

Ethel Rosenberg in Sing Sing's electric chair in 1953. Her own brother gave perjured testimony against her in return for clemency.

 

 

It was reported that the lights in Ossining NY dimmed every time it was used.

 

Really, have we as human beings not progressed to be better than this?

[animalmagic]

3 hours ago, Pilotman said:

nobody who murders is right mentally, so that is no excuse nor mitigation.  

My comments, for which you show such disdain, were written even without full knowledge of the horrendous way she was abused as a child by her family.  Now, having read the account of her childhood as posted by dexterm above, I am even more convinced that the carrying out of the execution was totally wrong and unjustified.

 

[Pilotman]

23 minutes ago, animalmagic said:

My comments, for which you show such disdain, were written even without full knowledge of the horrendous way she was abused as a child by her family.  Now, having read the account of her childhood as posted by dexterm above, I am even more convinced that the carrying out of the execution was totally wrong and unjustified.

 

BS. What she did was at the extreme end of depraved and evil. she  is better off dead.  There is no excuse for that she did to that poor woman, and did it knowingly and premeditatedly.  Absolutely no sympathy. I reserve all my sadness and sympathy for that poor victim of her evil. 

[animalmagic]

9 minutes ago, Pilotman said:

BS. What she did was at the extreme end of depraved and evil. she  is better off dead.  There is no excuse for that she did to that poor woman, and did it knowingly and premeditatedly.  Absolutely no sympathy. I reserve all my sadness and sympathy for that poor victim of her evil. 

Happy to see you taking the intellectual approach to polite discourse and differences of opinion, and screaming BS in capital letters when confronted with an opinion differing from yours. 

The act may be deranged and evil but the mental state of the person committing a crime is always relevant to the punishment in any civilised society.  

[Nout]

11 hours ago, Mama Noodle said:

 

Why should I care that this horrible human was put to death? 

Who asked you to care?

[mvdf]

Pro-life fanatics deliberately turning a blind eye to those final nightmarish moments of Bobbie Jo Stinnett's life. She was heinously and cruelly slaughtered.

 

Oh she was abused.. oh she didn't have a good childhood.. oh she didn't get a good and proper defense... oh this oh that.

 

Criminals of such unparalleled evil nature deserve to be exterminated. Obliterated. Destroyed. 

[animalmagic]

9 hours ago, mvdf said:

Pro-life fanatics deliberately turning a blind eye to those final nightmarish moments of Bobbie Jo Stinnett's life. She was heinously and cruelly slaughtered.

 

Oh she was abused.. oh she didn't have a good childhood.. oh she didn't get a good and proper defense... oh this oh that.

 

Criminals of such unparalleled evil nature deserve to be exterminated. Obliterated. Destroyed. 

This is how you define 'not having a good childhood'?!

As a 3 year old she shared a bed while her 8 year old sister was being raped by her babysitter. Then at 11 began years of herself being raped, sodomised and having her head smashed by her drunken stepfather in a secret room that wouldn't reveal her screams.  Where was the mother's love and care? She caught the stepfather once and held a gun to her daughter's head blaming the abused child. 

"Over time, the abuse expanded. Montgomery’s stepfather invited friends round to gang rape her in the room – ordeals that would last for hours and end with the men urinating on her like she was trash. Her mother got in on the act too, selling Montgomery’s body to the plumber and the electrician whenever she needed odd jobs doing." (Quoted from dexterm's post)
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jan/05/lisa-montgomery-death-row-execution-history

[mtls2005]

12 hours ago, unblocktheplanet said:

Really, have we as human beings not progressed to be better than this?

 

Sure.

 

The former Blackwater guards Trump pardoned were convicted of killing 14 Iraqi civilians, including 2 children

 

https://www.businessinsider.com/blackwater-guards-trump-pardoned-shot-killed-civilians-2-kids-2020-12

 

[Histavia]

How authoritarian or backward a country is is demonstrated by their use of the death penalty.  Trump is clearly out of his mind

[mvdf]

22 hours ago, animalmagic said:

This is how you define 'not having a good childhood'?!

As a 3 year old she shared a bed while her 8 year old sister was being raped by her babysitter. Then at 11 began years of herself being raped, sodomised and having her head smashed by her drunken stepfather in a secret room that wouldn't reveal her screams.  Where was the mother's love and care? She caught the stepfather once and held a gun to her daughter's head blaming the abused child. 

"Over time, the abuse expanded. Montgomery’s stepfather invited friends round to gang rape her in the room – ordeals that would last for hours and end with the men urinating on her like she was trash. Her mother got in on the act too, selling Montgomery’s body to the plumber and the electrician whenever she needed odd jobs doing." (Quoted from dexterm's post)
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jan/05/lisa-montgomery-death-row-execution-history

 

True true... let's all just focus then on poor Lisa Montgomery's plight and her sad love-deprived life. Forget Bobby Joe Stinnett and how she had a Caesarean section so very professionally performed on her by sweet Lisa. Astonishing how a mentally imbalanced creature can recollect, with unparalleled clarity that would put the latest video recorders to shame, events she claimed to have happened when she was just 3 years old, all in the name of using such events to excuse the crime or to achieve an exoneration. 

 

If those events, as retold by the Guardian above, were true, they neither exculpate her nor invalidate the penalty handed down by a jury of her peers. 

 

Richard Chaney, 38, a childhood friend and classmate of Ms. Stinnett’s, recalled biking to the local gas station with her, describing how in high school she had a “huge crush” on the man who would later become her husband. Mr. Chaney rejected the idea that the abuse suffered by Ms. Montgomery should have led to her life being spared, saying many people endured trauma without committing heinous crimes. “You don’t see them out killing pregnant women and cutting babies out,” he said. 

 

Excerpt from "U.S. Executes Lisa Montgomery for 2004 Murder". The New York Times. Jan. 13, 2021.

 

Indeed, indeed. 

 

The US Supreme Court rejected her lawyer's pleas for mercy at the 11th hour. The learned justices of that great Court wouldn't have done so if there truly were mitigating issues outweighing the ultimate penalty.

 

 

[Roadman]

44 minutes ago, mvdf said:

 

True true... let's all just focus then on poor Lisa Montgomery's plight and her sad love-deprived life. Forget Bobby Joe Stinnett and how she had a Caesarean section so very professionally performed on her by sweet Lisa. Astonishing how a mentally imbalanced creature can recollect, with unparalleled clarity that would put the latest video recorders to shame, events she claimed to have happened when she was just 3 years old, all in the name of using such events to excuse the crime or to achieve an exoneration. 

 

If those events, as retold by the Guardian above, were true, they neither exculpate her nor invalidate the penalty handed down by a jury of her peers. 

 

Richard Chaney, 38, a childhood friend and classmate of Ms. Stinnett’s, recalled biking to the local gas station with her, describing how in high school she had a “huge crush” on the man who would later become her husband. Mr. Chaney rejected the idea that the abuse suffered by Ms. Montgomery should have led to her life being spared, saying many people endured trauma without committing heinous crimes. “You don’t see them out killing pregnant women and cutting babies out,” he said. 

 

Excerpt from "U.S. Executes Lisa Montgomery for 2004 Murder". The New York Times. Jan. 13, 2021.

 

Indeed, indeed. 

 

The US Supreme Court rejected her lawyer's pleas for mercy at the 11th hour. The learned justices of that great Court wouldn't have done so if there truly were mitigating issues outweighing the ultimate penalty.

 

 

The question is what civilized country has the death penalty, regardless of the killers motive and the victims consequences,  in place for learned justices to even sentence or consider appeals on? Most western countries practice humanity and know we are not them, and need to be better than them. 

 

Edited January 16, 2021 by Roadman

[animalmagic]

1 hour ago, mvdf said:

 

True true... let's all just focus then on poor Lisa Montgomery's plight and her sad love-deprived life. Forget Bobby Joe Stinnett and how she had a Caesarean section so very professionally performed on her by sweet Lisa. Astonishing how a mentally imbalanced creature can recollect, with unparalleled clarity that would put the latest video recorders to shame, events she claimed to have happened when she was just 3 years old, all in the name of using such events to excuse the crime or to achieve an exoneration. 

 

If those events, as retold by the Guardian above, were true, they neither exculpate her nor invalidate the penalty handed down by a jury of her peers. 

 

Richard Chaney, 38, a childhood friend and classmate of Ms. Stinnett’s, recalled biking to the local gas station with her, describing how in high school she had a “huge crush” on the man who would later become her husband. Mr. Chaney rejected the idea that the abuse suffered by Ms. Montgomery should have led to her life being spared, saying many people endured trauma without committing heinous crimes. “You don’t see them out killing pregnant women and cutting babies out,” he said. 

 

Excerpt from "U.S. Executes Lisa Montgomery for 2004 Murder". The New York Times. Jan. 13, 2021.

 

Indeed, indeed. 

 

The US Supreme Court rejected her lawyer's pleas for mercy at the 11th hour. The learned justices of that great Court wouldn't have done so if there truly were mitigating issues outweighing the ultimate penalty.

 

 

In one paragraph you attempt to cast doubt on the reporting of the Guardian by saying 'if those reports were true', but then use a childhood friend's recollection of a bike ride to disprove the idea that she had suffered trauma and abuse.  

People who suffer trauma at an early age are capable of vivid recollection of the events; that is what trauma does to you.  I suffered no trauma like she suffered but did have a vary traumatic experience at the age of 3 which I can still, even though advanced in years, remember in great detail.  Her trauma started at the age of 3 and carried on for much of her early life which would make it easy for any person to remember clearly.

I feel her execution was unnecessary and much could have been learned from in depth psychological examination of her and her history.  This knowledge could help many others.

I agree the murder was horrific but feel there are individuals who commit murder for personal gain or emotional and financial profit for whom such a punishment may be justified.