The federal government was willing to risk a superspreader event to kill a victim of sexual torture. At 1:31 AM on Wednesday, Lisa Montgomery was pronounced dead. She was the first woman executed by the federal government in 67 years. “We should recognize Lisa Montgomery’s execution for what it was: the vicious, unlawful, and unnecessary exercise of authoritarian power,” her attorney Kelley Henry stated.

On Monday night, a federal court granted a stay of execution until Montgomery could undergo a competency hearing to determine her mental capacity.