The Justice Department sought an appeal after a district court hit the pause button on the first federal executions in nearly two decades, including one against a convicted murderer that had been scheduled for Monday afternoon.
U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan, an Obama appointee who has been on the bench since 2014, issued a 22-page opinion on Monday granting a preliminary injunction sought by lawyers representing Daniel Lewis Lee, Wesley Ira Purkey, Dustin Lee Honken, and Keith Dwayne Nelson — all convicted murderers whose executions had been slated for July and August. Lee’s execution date had been scheduled for 4 p.m. on Monday at the federal penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana, but he has won at least a temporary reprieve. Purkey’s execution had been scheduled for Wednesday, Honken’s execution had been scheduled for Friday, and the execution of Nelson was scheduled for late August.
