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Page Number: 5

Cite as:  592 U. S. ____ (2021) 

1 

SOTOMAYOR, J., dissenting 

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES 

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No. 20–927 (20A134) 
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UNITED STATES v. DUSTIN JOHN HIGGS 

ON PETITION FOR WRIT OF CERTIORARI BEFORE JUDGMENT 
TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH 
CIRCUIT AND APPLICATION TO VACATE STAY 

[January 15, 2021]

 JUSTICE SOTOMAYOR, dissenting. 
After seventeen years without a single federal execution,
the  Government  has  executed  twelve  people  since  July. 
They  are  Daniel  Lee,  Wesley  Purkey,  Dustin  Honken, 
Lezmond  Mitchell,  Keith  Nelson,  William  LeCroy  Jr., 
Christopher Vialva, Orlando Hall, Brandon Bernard, Alfred
Bourgeois,  Lisa  Montgomery,  and,  just  last  night,  Corey 
Johnson.  Today, Dustin Higgs will become the thirteenth. 
To put that in historical context, the Federal Government 
will have executed more than three times as many people 
in the last six months than it had in the previous six dec-
ades. 

This  unprecedented  rush  of  federal  executions  has  pre-
dictably  given  rise  to  many  difficult  legal  disputes.    One 
source of confusion has been the Federal Death Penalty Act 
(FDPA), which Congress enacted in 1994 to guide the impo-
sition and implementation of federal death sentences.  Pub. 
L. No. 103–322, Tit. VI, §60002(a), 108 Stat. 1959 (codified 
as amended at 18 U. S. C. §3591 et seq.).  Prior to last July,
the  Federal  Government  had  executed  just  three  people 
since the enactment of the FDPA, two in 2001 and one in 
2003.  Many  questions  about  the  FDPA  remain  unan-
swered. 

Another source of uncertainty has been the Department