Trump Administration Plans to Use Firing Squads for Death Penalty Cases

US Administration Announces Plans to Expand Federal Death Penalty

The Department of Justice has released a policy document outlining plans to expand the use of the federal death penalty, including the deployment of firing squads. The announcement was made on Friday as part of a broader effort to “restore and strengthen” the death penalty.

According to the document, the administration will return to using pentobarbital for lethal injections, which had been used during President Trump’s first term in office. The Justice Department also stated that execution by gunfire, electrocution, and lethal gas are all legally acceptable methods of execution.

The policy document takes aim at the Biden administration’s moratorium on federal executions, stating that it has rendered the death penalty “a dead letter.” Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche wrote that this changed when President Trump took office.

The document also calls for expanding the federal death row and constructing an additional facility to permit additional methods of execution. This could include the use of a firing squad, which is currently allowed in only five states: Idaho, South Carolina, Utah, Mississippi, and Oklahoma.

Critics have raised concerns about the potential for innocent people being put on death row and the disproportionate impact of capital punishment on minorities and the underprivileged. The Death Penalty Information Center estimates that at least 202 people in the US have been exonerated since 1973 after receiving death sentences.

The Trump administration has argued that capital punishment is a necessary penalty for severe crimes, but its use remains highly controversial.

Source: Al Jazeera