Michael Clifford: Trump's exploitation of death penalty a desperate measure

In one week in Donald Trump’s America, three men were killed by the state for crimes they had all committed up to 30 years ago, writes Michael Clifford

Protesters against the death penalty gather in Terre Haute, Ind., Monday, July 13, 2020. Daniel Lewis Lee, a convicted killer, was scheduled to be executed at 4 p.m. in the federal prison in Terre Haute. He was convicted in Arkansas of the 1996 killings of gun dealer William Mueller, his wife, Nancy, and her 8-year-old daughter, Sarah Powell. Photo: AP/Michael Conroy

The exploitation of the death penalty by Donald Trump is one of the many stains his presidency has left on the US. In the space of a week this month, the federal government executed three death row inmates. 

This came after a 17-year informal moratorium on federal executions.