Clinton May Postpone Rare Federal Execution

President Clinton may postpone next month’s scheduled execution of a convicted murderer--which would be the first federal execution in nearly four decades--because the White House is awaiting new guidelines on clemency procedures from the Justice Department, an administration spokesman said Thursday night.

With the issue of capital punishment becoming prominent in the presidential election, Clinton said last week he was concerned about “the disturbing racial composition” of the 21 inmates on federal death row. Justice Department officials are preparing a report on whether federal defendants in certain parts of the country, or those who belong to racial minorities, are more likely to be sentenced to death, according to the New York Times, which first reported the possible execution postponement on its Web site Thursday night.

Juan Raul Garza, the alleged head of a marijuana smuggling ring from Mexico, was convicted seven years ago in Texas of ordering the murders of three people in the course of his criminal operations. He is scheduled to be executed Aug. 5.

That execution may be postponed until Justice officials complete their recommendations on how such inmates would apply for presidential clemency, White House spokesman Joe Lockhart said Thursday night.

Currently, he said, “there are no clear guidelines for [clemency applications] for federal capital cases.”

Garza’s lawyers have said they plan to use the new guidelines to seek clemency for their client on the grounds that the federal court system discriminates against racial minorities. The Supreme Court overturned the federal death penalty in 1972, but it was reinstated in 1988 after Congress enacted laws aimed at “drug kingpins.”