The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has announced a series of actions to expand and expedite federal executions, including the reauthorization of firing squads and pentobarbital injections. The move comes after a moratorium on federal executions under the Biden administration.
Immediate Action & Core Facts
The DOJ directed the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) to broaden execution protocols to include firing squads, pentobarbital injections, and other methods beyond lethal injection. The decision follows a day-one executive order from President Donald Trump instructing the Attorney General to prioritize death sentences, particularly in cases involving slain law enforcement officers or capital crimes committed by undocumented immigrants. The DOJ also plans to investigate whether 37 death row inmates whose sentences were commuted by former President Joe Biden could be charged with state capital crimes.
Deeper Dive & Context
The DOJ's actions are outlined in a 48-page report titled 'Restoring and Strengthening the Federal Death Penalty,' which details how the Biden administration backed away from federal executions. The report argues that the Supreme Court has never rejected a method of execution as unconstitutional and cites increasing difficulties for states with capital punishment to acquire lethal injection drugs.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche criticized the Biden administration for failing to pursue the death penalty in violent cases, stating that the Trump administration is 'once again enforcing the law and standing with victims.' The DOJ also plans to streamline internal processes to reduce delays between sentencing and execution, and the BOP has been ordered to relocate or expand federal death row facilities to accommodate additional execution methods.
Opposing Views and Implications
The Biden administration had previously put an indefinite moratorium on the use of pentobarbital and declined to impose the death penalty in many cases. The former president’s administration also commuted the sentences of most federal death row inmates before leaving office. Under Trump, federal executions resumed after a nearly two-decade hiatus, with 13 executions carried out during his first term—more than under any president in modern history.
The federal government has not previously included firing squad as a method of execution in its protocols. Five states currently allow executions by firing squad: Idaho, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Utah. The pentobarbital protocol was adopted by Bill Barr, attorney general during Trump’s first term, to replace a three-drug mix used in the 2000s, the last time federal executions were carried out before Trump.