[CBS News] The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals on Sunday overturned a lower court ruling staying the execution of Daniel Lewis Lee. The execution, scheduled for Monday in Indiana, would be the first federal execution in 17 years.
"The plaintiffs' APA claim lacks any arguable legal basis and is therefore frivolous," the court said in its Sunday ruling.
Lee, 47, is a former white supremacist who in 1996 robbed and murdered a family of three, including their 8-year-old daughter. The family of Lee's victims filed a petition to delay the execution because they wanted to attend, but feared traveling to Indiana during the coronavirus pandemic. A judge on Friday had granted the petition, but Sunday's ruling overturned the stay.
The family said they will appeal the decision to the Supreme Court.
"The federal government has put this family in the untenable position of choosing between their right to witness Danny Lee's execution and their own health and safety," Baker Kurrus, an attorney representing the family, said in a statement. |