Federal justice system to expand capital sentencing and execute inmates via firing squads

The Department of Justice has issued a formal policy document signalling a decisive expansion of the federal death penalty, explicitly prioritising the seeking of capital sentences and reversing the moratorium imposed by the previous administration. The new directive outlines legal arguments to resume executions via lethal injection using pentobarbital and authorises the deployment of firing squads, electrocution, and lethal gas within the federal justice system.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche stated that the federal death penalty was rendered a "dead letter" under the prior leadership, effectively transforming death sentences into life terms. He pledged to reverse the commutation of 37 inmates' sentences to life imprisonment, a move taken in late 2024. The Justice Department intends to instruct the Federal Bureau of Prisons to construct additional facilities to accommodate these various execution methods.

The policy document dismisses previous government assessments that expressed uncertainty regarding whether pentobarbital causes unnecessary pain, claiming the Biden administration "got the science wrong". It maintains that execution by gunfire, electrocution, and lethal gas are legally acceptable despite Eighth Amendment concerns regarding "cruel and unusual punishment". The administration argues these steps are critical to deterring severe crimes and providing closure to surviving loved ones.

This institutional shift marks a significant departure from recent policy, as the first Trump administration ended a 17-year federal moratorium with 13 executions before returning to the practice. The current administration aims to restore capital sentencing and clear the way for the Department to carry out executions once death-sentenced inmates have exhausted their appeals, framing the move as a restoration of the Department's solemn duty to seek lawful capital sentences.

Critics of the policy highlight the high level of controversy surrounding capital punishment, noting that the Death Penalty Information Center estimates at least 202 people have been exonerated since 1973 after receiving death sentences. There are also concerns regarding the disproportionate application of the penalty against minorities and the underprivileged, alongside the irreversible nature of the sentence once administered.

Globally, the trend remains towards abolition, with roughly 141 countries having ended the practice, including the United States' neighbours, Mexico and Canada. While only five states currently allow firing squads, the pace of such executions is picking up in the domestic sphere, with South Carolina recently authorising three executions by gunfire, the first in 15 years.