Orlando Cordia Hall v. William P. Barr, Attorney General, et al.

(CAPITAL CASE) In spite of the extraordinary and ongoing disruptions caused by the uncontrolled spread of the novel coronavirus, the government gave Petitioner, a condemned federal prisoner, just 50 days’ notice of his impending execution – departing abruptly from both the previous regulatory regime, which mandated at least 90 days’ notice, and a settled and unbroken practice of giving at least 120 days’ notice. Petitioner thus received less than half as much notice of his initial execution date as, until just three months ago, the government had routinely provided to every condemned federal inmate over the past two decades. Medical conditions place Petitioner’s court-appointed attorneys and their immediate family members at heightened risk of serious illness or death from COVID-19. Those health hazards, and the dramatically foreshortened notice provided by the government of Petitioner’s impending execution, have prevented Petitioner’s attorneys from discharging their professional duty to prepare a clemency application and explore potential avenues of judicial relief. Applicable professional standards require counsel to conduct inperson witness interviews in diverse locations, and those actions cannot be safely or effectively performed due to the pandemic. In light of these facts, the question presented is whether the government should be allowed to move forward with Petitioner’s execution on November 19, 2020? (i)