The ACLU was nowhere to be seen when Americans couldn’t buy seeds, go outside, or go to church but, if you are a violent criminal sentenced to death they are here for you.
The American Civil Liberties Union has joined a law firm to sue Attorney General William Barr in order to delay a scheduled federal execution later this month claiming it is unsafe because of the coronavirus.
The ACLU is claiming that the scheduled executions will cause a “super-spreader event.”
ABC News reports:
The plaintiffs are hoping to postpone the federal execution of Wesley Purkey — scheduled for July 15 — arguing that Purkey’s witness and spiritual minister, Rev. Seigen Hartkemeyer, a 68-year-old Buddhist priest with lung-related illnesses, would be exposed to the virus if he attended the execution at an Indiana prison. The lawsuit argues that forcing Rev. Hartkemeyer to risk his health in order to perform his religious duties violates the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.
“Trump officials claim to champion religious freedom yet, once again, have no qualms about trampling those rights when it suits their political agenda,” said Heather L. Weaver, senior staff attorney for the ACLU’s Program on Freedom of Religion and Belief, according to an ACLU press release. “There is no reason to resume federal executions during a pandemic, especially when it would keep a priest from performing his religious commitments to a man about to lose his life.”
Wesley Purkey was sentenced to death in 2003 after he was convicted of killing, raping, and dismembering Jennifer Long, a 16-year-old girl. At the state level, Purkey was also convicted of using a claw hammer to beat an 80-year-old woman to death.
Rev. Hartkmeyer claims it’s his job to be with Purkey when he is put to death.
“It’s vital that I be there, as Wes’s priest, to ensure this peaceful transition from life to death during his most dire moment of distress —his ultimate crisis — as he sits at the threshold of death. I will chant from behind a plexiglass barrier to ensure his peace of mind while passing and, through my physical presence, serve as a spiritual reminder to Wes of all the religious lessons I have taught him as he passes on from this life. This is my sacred duty,” Rev. Hartkemeyer wrote in a blog post.
Mass protests and riots are fine but, executions with just a few present should be paused because it could cause a super-spreader event…Give me a freaking break!
