Lisa Montgomery’s Final Hours Before The Trump Administration Executed Her

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Lisa Montgomery’s Final Hours Before The Trump Administration Executed Her

Montgomery’s lawyers told HuffPost that she was out of touch with reality before she was killed by lethal injection early Wednesday morning.

 

By Melissa Jeltsen

 

Lisa Montgomery was put to death early Wednesday morning at the federal prison in Terre Haute, Indiana, shortly after the Supreme Court cleared the path for her execution.

Serious doubts about whether Montgomery, who was mentally ill, was competent for execution did not stop the government from killing her.

The 52-year-old, who murdered a pregnant woman in 2004 and abducted her fetus , had been the only woman on death row. For years, she had been housed at a prison in Texas for women with special mental health needs and treated for bipolar disorder and complex PTSD stemming from her abusive childhood .

In the days leading up to her death, her lawyers argued that she was incompetent for execution because she was in a state of psychosis and not meaningfully aware of what was about to happen to her. The Eighth Amendment prohibits executing a prisoner who cannot rationally understand why they are to be executed.

On these grounds, a federal court granted Montgomery a temporary stay less than 24 hours before her execution was scheduled to allow for her mental health to be evaluated, but that hearing never happened. The government appealed the stay and it was overturned by the U.S. Court Of Appeals for the 7th Circuit.

Montgomery was put to death one week before the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden, who opposes the federal death penalty and has said he will work to end its use. Two more executions are scheduled for later this week, although a temporary stay is in place for both.

federal court

Less than an hour after Montgomery’s execution, at about 2:30 a.m. local time, HuffPost spoke with her lawyers over the phone. After a flurry of last minute legal filings attempting to save her life, they were finally resting in a hotel near the prison. There, they learned that a number of Bureau of Prisons staff who had assisted in Montgomery’s execution were also staying at the same hotel.

Amy Harwell is one of Montgomery’s attorneys, who  contracted COVID-19 in November  after visiting Montgomery in prison. She gave HuffPost a first-person account of her client’s last day alive and her death.

I understand you were with Montgomery today, the day of the execution. Can you describe what happened? 

I went to prison in the morning and spent four hours with her. During that time, her spiritual adviser John Francisco came. He gave us all communion, and talked with Lisa about if things went poorly tonight, how he hoped to care for her while in the execution chamber, knew Lisa when she was a little girl and was the bus driver who picked her up to take her to church, and his mom was her Sunday school teacher.

At one point, he fished out of his wallet this tiny photograph. He flipped it over so Lisa could see and she gasped. On the back of it, it said “Lisa, 7, second grade.” Lisa had given him the photo when she was 7 years old. He had held on to it ever since.

Bureau of Prisons staff

He told her that after the execution started, he intended to sing “Jesus Loves Me” and “Amazing Grace” while the chemicals flowed. That was the plan. But when we arrived at the execution house, [Bureau of Prisons staff] did not allow him to be with her. I explained that he was her designated spiritual adviser and needed to be in the chamber with her. A woman said she’d go check, and then she came running back and said it was too late. Lisa was on the gurney, all strapped in.

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She wiggled her fingers a little, waving at us and we locked eyes with her and waited for the end to happen. She was deprived of her spiritual adviser. It was a needless indignity, and a deprivation of really her basic humanity. That in her final moments they tried to take her sense of herself as a loved child of God is an insult beyond comprehension.

federal court

How was she doing today when you spent time with her? 

Lisa’s baseline state is pretty severely dissociated. From the moment we got there today, she was very detached from reality, much more so even than we had ever experienced before. One of the first things I said to her was, “Lisa you’re so far away from me. Can you get here with us?” And she was just so not with us. She was not following conversations. She was not processing the information I gave her. At one point I asked her to repeat back to me what I just said, and she was not able to do that.

We had just gotten the stay [from the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana] and I spent the day thinking, I’m going to get to present this proof in court! My client is completely disconnected from reality. Instead they killed her.

Defining diversity

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Defining diversity

Description

One of the most significant Federal Laws pertaining to freedom, rights and protection is the 1964 Civil Rights Act.  While this law has brought about substantial changes in our institutions and regulations, its effects are continuing to evolve.

As a result, we have had a evolving understanding of the term, diversity.  Several of our articles speak to that.  In this week’s discussion board, address the following set of questions and share your comments.  Feel free to express your own thoughts as well as those from outside sources you found helpful.

” If we all treated each other better, would that solve racism? Why or why not? If we stopped noticing race, would it just go away?” Give your thoughts.

“Do diversity efforts in organizations tend to focus on improving interpersonal relations or on addressing underlying structural conditions (that lead to disparate treatment), in society as well as in organizations? How can one get others to understand the difference? How can those conditions be changed?

What Function of Law is Most Important?

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150 words

Title

Unit 1 DB: What Function of Law is Most Important?

Details

Considering the functions of law as defined in the assigned reading for this unit:

· Peacekeeping· Checking government power and promoting personal freedom· Facilitating planning and the realization of reasonable expectations

· Promoting economic growth through free competition· Promoting social justice and protecting the environment.

Explain which function of the law, in your opinion, is the most important. Can the government legislate morality? Explain.

In response to your peers, consider your peers’ response. If they disagree with your response, consider the factual assumptions they have made which form the foundation of their opinion. Can you challenge those assumptions while furthering your discussion? If your responses are similar, consider posing a hypothetical question to test your peer’s conclusions.

Regardless of whether you are an attorney arguing in court or a business stakeholder pitching to shareholders or a potential client, adding support for your argument from appropriate resources strengthens your content. For this discussion board, be sure to include a citation to an appropriate source that supports the point you are making. (HINT: Your textbook is a great source!)

Ethical issues and document destruction in discovery

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Ethical issues and document destruction in discovery

Description

In Unit 2, you are learning about the resolution of private disputes and what happens during the discovery phase of litigation. Imagine that you are a project manager at a construction company and your company is being sued. You are in possession of documents that you know will harm your company’s chances of winning the lawsuit. Can you destroy or change these documents if it improves your company’s chances of winning the lawsuit? What are the consequences of document alteration or destruction that interferes with legitimate discovery requests?

In response to your peers, consider your peers’ response. If they disagree with your response, consider the factual assumptions they have made which form the foundation of their opinion. Can you challenge those assumptions while furthering your discussion? If your responses are similar, consider posing a hypothetical question to test your peer’s conclusions.

Regardless of whether you are an attorney arguing in court or a business stakeholder pitching to shareholders or a potential client, adding support for your argument from appropriate resources strengthens your content. For this discussion board, be sure to include a citation to an appropriate source that supports the point you are making.

Litigation Plan

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Litigation Plan

Imagine that you are a paralegal in law firm. You have been tasked with drafting the initial memo regarding the case of a new client to the firm, Ms. Baker. After interviewing Ms. Baker, you learned the following:

Ms. Baker, a resident of Connecticut, was on road trip to visit the world’s largest ball of twine in Cawker City, Kansas. When she was driving in Kansas, her car was hit from behind by Ms. Smith, a Kansas resident. Unfortunately, Ms. Baker’s car was totaled, she suffered injuries, emotional distress and lost time from work. Her damages exceeded $75,000. The police determined the accident was wholly the faulty of Ms. Smith.

Instructions:

• Use the attached Memo template. • Draft an office memorandum to your supervising attorney in which you answer

the following questions: • Can this case be filed in federal court? Why? (HINT: See Diversity

Jurisdiction) • Identify and explain the first document that the firm should file in court on

behalf of Ms. Baker that will let Ms. Smith know that she is being sued. • Identify what information should be sought in discovery. • Identify and explain witnesses that should be called on behalf of Ms.

Baker at trial. • Would ADR be helpful in this case? Why?

Requirements:

• Use APA format for non-legal sources such as the textbook. Use Bluebook citation format for any legal citations.

• Submit a Word document using the Memo template. • Maximum two pages in length, excluding the Reference page.

 

LAW204 – Business Law I

Litigation Plan

 

 

Be sure to read the criteria below by which your work will be evaluated before you write and again after you write.

 

 

Evaluation Rubric for Litigation Plan Assignment

CRITERIA Deficient Needs Improvement

Proficient Exemplary

0 – 44 Points 45 – 59 Points 60 – 74 Points

75 Points

Memo Does not concisely and clearly answer questions about the case. Memo is not succinct.

Somewhat concisely and clearly answers some questions about the case. Memo is not overly succinct.

Mostly concisely, succinctly, and clearly answers all questions about the case.

Concisely, succinctly, and clearly answers all questions about the case.

0 – 5 points 6 – 7 points 8 – 9 points 10 points Paper Length More than 2

pages

n/a n/a 2 pages or less

0 – 8 points 9 – 11 points 12 – 14 points

15 points

Clear and Professional Writing and APA/Bluebook Format

Errors impede professional presentation; guidelines not followed.

Significant errors that do not impede professional presentation.

Few errors that do not impede professional presentation.

Writing and format are clear, professional, APA/Bluebook compliant, and error free.

Berghuis V. Thompkins

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Description
 

In this case, after agreeing to hear the case (known as granting certiorari). The United States Supreme Court held that detectives interrogating Thompkins did not violate Thompkins’ Miranda rights in obtaining his confession.

· Read the case of Berghuis v. Thompkins. You may also find it helpful to listen to the oral arguments. The lawyers made before the United States Supreme Court.

Prepare an argument for:

· If your last name begins with A through N you must argue in favor of the majority’s decision in the case. (Finding that the detectives did not violate Thompkins’ Miranda rights).

· If your last name begins with M through Z you must argue against the majority’s decision and in favor of the dissent. The dissent argued that Thompkins’ confession was illegally obtained in violation of his Miranda rights.

Berghuis V. Thompkins

Remember to support your required position with what you have learned from this week’s assigned reading about constitutional safeguards.

If your opinion varies from the position you are being required to take, you may include such a statement in your discussion post.

In response to your peers: In response to your peers, consider your peers’ response. If they disagree with your response, consider the factual assumptions they have made which form the foundation of their opinion. Can you challenge those assumptions while furthering your discussion? If your responses are similar, consider posing a hypothetical question to test your peer’s conclusions.

Regardless of whether you are an attorney arguing in court or a business stakeholder pitching to shareholders or a potential client, adding support for your argument from appropriate resources strengthens your content. For this discussion board, be sure to include a citation to an appropriate source that supports the point you are making.

· MESSAGE TO WRITER: THE FOLLOWING SCENRIO FIT BASED ON MY LAST NAME SO PLEASE WORK ACCORIDNGLY

If your last name begins with M through Z you must argue against the majority’s decision and in favor of the dissent. The dissent argued that Thompkins’ confession was illegally obtained in violation of his Miranda rights.

conceptualize your brain

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conceptualize your brain

The first step in composing this paper is to conceptualize your brain. My brain has a long corridor with many doors on the left and on the right. Each door holds a memory. However you might want to conceptualize your brain differently. My suggestion is that you read some of the sample papers that students have written, so you can see how they have conceptualized their brains. Your entire writing will occur within the way you conceptualize your brain. Some students conceptualize their brain as an ocean, or a valley, or possibly an underground cave, all holding the memories of their lives.

This writing assignment will demand four bodies of information:  The way you conceptulaize your brain, the slam poem of your choice, The memory behind the door (such as in my brain) and the research.

Logic:  Read a whole bunch of these slam poems in Module 3, observe if any of the doors open in the corridor of your mind. Execute research on one of the issues that is found behind your door.

MLA

Your paper must have 3 quotes from the slam poem. The paper should also include three quotes from an article (research). Your paper must follow all MLA rules, and a works cited page must be included based on your one source.

Clinical Ethics Issues

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The final project for this course is an analysis of the legal and or ethical issues involved in the below health care scenario. See questions to be answered at end of this factual scenario below. I have also provided, after the formatting requirements for the paper, two articles that will aid you in your analyzing the scenario and writing your paper.

The two articles to base the analysis of your paper are entitled:

Clinical Ethics Issues and Discussion and

A Framework for Thinking Ethically

This is the final paper for the class and must be double spaced and be approximately 4-5 pages in 12 point New Times Roman font. Include a cover page [not counted as a page] which should have student name and title of your paper. See more formatting requirements later in these paper instructions.

NOTE: For this paper it is unnecessary to do any research beyond the two articles I furnished with this assignment. Both are after the specific paper requirements.  You may use all the articles in the class also. To do internet research would only be wasting your valuable time.

Case Scenario

A 72 year old woman was admitted to the Neurological Intensive Care Unit following a cerebral hemorrhage which left her with severe brain damage and ventilator dependent. One year before this event, the patient and her husband had drawn up “living wills” with an attorney. She was diagnosed by her treating physician as being in a permanent unconscious condition. The patient’s living will specified that the patient did not want ventilator support or other artificial life support in the event of a permanent unconscious condition or terminal condition.

The patient’s husband is her legal next of kin and the person with surrogate decision-making authority. When the living will was discussed with him, he insisted that the patient had not intended for the document to be used in a situation like the present one. Further discussion with him revealed that he understood that the patient would not be able to recover any meaningful brain function but he argued that the living will did not apply because her condition was not imminently terminal. He further indicated that he did not consider his wife to be in a permanent unconscious condition.  The immediate family members (the couple’s adult children) disagreed with their father’s refusal to withdraw life support.

The treatment team allowed a week to pass to allow the husband more time to be supported in his grief and to appreciate the gravity of his wife’s situation.  Nevertheless, at the end of this time, the husband was unwilling to authorize withdrawal of life support measures consistent with the patient’s wishes as expressed in her living will. End of scenario.

You paper should have 3 major sections. Each is numbered 1, 2 and 3. Questions to be discussed based on the facts above. You must weave into your discussion the relevant facts from above scenario to support your discussion in discussion areas 2 and 3 below. And for discussion area 3 you must weave into your discussion the ethics philosophy you pick for each issue from the article A Framework for Thinking Ethically. A penalty will be deducted if you fail to use appropriate headings in your paper.

1. Three Legal/Ethical Issues. Just list the three most important legal/ethics issues in this scenario that you will discuss. They must be three separate, different and distinct issues. Pay particular attention to the article I furnished with this assignment. No explanation needed, just state them 1, 2, 3.

2. Discussion of Three Legal/Ethical Issues.  Discuss the three most important ethical/legal issues you listed above. Must use the relevant facts in the scenario to support your discussion of the legal/ethical issues.

Must use headings below.  Headings will be:

           Legal/Ethical Issue 1 [state the issue] then discussion

           Legal/Ethical Issue 2 [state the issue] then discussion

           Legal/Ethical Issue 3 [state the issue] then discussion

For each legal/ethical issue above discuss

a. Why each is a legal /ethical issue?

b. Discuss each issue in the context of the scenario facts and

c. Define the concepts you use

3. How I would Handle Each Issue.  First, in this section and for each issue, as a health care provider, how would you handle each of the three issues discussed above and why?  Must use the relevant facts in the scenario to support your positions. Secondly for each issue, using the article in these requirements, entitled “A Framework of Thinking Ethically” fully discuss the specific ethics philosophy that would epitomize your handling of each issue. Fully define the specific ethics philosophy used and weave the ethics philosophy into your discussion. See article below entitled A Framework for Thinking Ethically.

Must use headings below.  Headings will be:

Handling of Legal/Ethical Issue #1 (followed by the discussion)

Handling of Legal/Ethical Issue #2 (followed by the discussion)

domestic terrorist attack in the United States between 1970

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domestic terrorist attack in the United States between 1970

Discuss a domestic terrorist attack that happened in the United States between 1970 and the present. Do not choose the 9/11 attacks. Students will answer the interrogatives of Who, What, When, Where, and Why in describing the attack. Also, the student will determine whether the attack was committed by a left or right wing group, domestic or international group, religious or non-religious group, and state or dissident terrorist organizations. Students should discuss ideology, leaders and reasoning for the attack.

All sources must be cited, and the project will be checked for plagiarism. The paper will be three to five pages. Your Case Study should be in APA format including a title page and a reference page, 12-point font, Times New Roman, and double spaced. Your assignment will be graded on the following rubrics (format, organization, and grammar). Partial points will be given for competent work that basically meets the requirements; however, maximum points will be granted for proficient work on all levels of achievement

Infographic About Various Agencies On Policy Formation

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Infographic About Various Agencies On Policy Formation

Scenario

You are the risk manager for a local community hospital. You have just attended a Joint Commission Resources conference. Part of your role is to educate employees of the organization on practical solutions and implementation tips to maintain accreditation.

The Joint Commission requires that organizations seeking accreditation provide education and training to staff on areas such as populations served, team communications, coordination of care, reporting unanticipated adverse events, fall reduction programs, and early warning signs of change in patients’ conditions.

As an independent, not-for-profit organization, the Joint Commission accredits and certifies nearly 21,000 health care organizations and programs in the United States. Joint Commission accreditation and certification is recognized nationwide as a symbol of quality that reflects an organization’s commitment to meeting certain performance standards.

Instructions

You must create an infographic that addresses at least one key initiative involving patient safety. Your infographic may highlight practices that serve to mitigate risks specific to patient falls, infection control to reduce the occurrence of hospital-acquired infections, or medication safety procedures. Your infographic should address the following:

  • Design a plan to mitigate the risk associated with your chosen topic.
  • Include examples of potential risks, explain the possible root cause, and propose a preventive strategy.
  • Your infographic should incorporate figures, graphs, and/or charts.

Resources

Click this link for help on creating an infographic.

www.jointcommission.org