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Federal Death Row Prisoner Contracts COVID-19 Weeks Before Planned Execution

HeadlineDec 18, 2020

Death row prisoner Dustin John Higgs has contracted COVID-19 ahead of his scheduled execution on January 15. Higgs is among over 300 prisoners in the federal prison in Terre Haute, Indiana, who have tested positive for coronavirus — including prisoners on death row. A guard working on the unit also tested positive. Higgs’s attorney said the outbreak is likely due to the rushed executions carried out by the Trump administration during the pandemic. So far this year, 10 people have been put to death by the federal government — the most since 1896. 

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