Trump Administration Brings Back Firing Squads for Federal Executions
The Trump administration's Justice Department approved firing squads, electrocution, and lethal gas as new methods for federal executions. The changes also include speeding up legal appeals and bringing back a controversial death penalty drug.
The Justice Department announced it will expand federal execution methods beyond lethal injection to include firing squads, electrocution, and lethal gas. The Supreme Court has previously ruled these methods don't violate the Constitution's ban on cruel punishment.
The administration also plans to shorten legal appeals in death penalty cases and reauthorize a death penalty drug that had been controversial. Officials said they want to "streamline internal processes to expedite death penalty cases."
Capital punishment remains deeply divided in America. Critics worry that innocent people could be executed, especially with faster appeals processes. Currently, 40 people sit on federal death row.
Several states already use firing squads and other methods when lethal injection drugs are hard to get. The federal government had mostly relied on lethal injection for decades.
This marks a major shift in how the federal government carries out death sentences. The changes could affect the 40 people currently on federal death row and speed up executions across the country.
Watch for the first federal execution using these new methods and legal challenges to the policy changes.
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