WASHINGTON, D.C. — The United States Department of Justice released a report April 24 proposing the reinstatement and expansion of controversial federal execution methods, including firing squad, electrocution and lethal injection, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.
The detailed report characterized the Biden administration’s suspension of certain execution practices as not being “rooted in our Nation’s history, tradition, or any legal authority,” despite former Attorney General Merrick Garland’s stated efforts to “ensure that everyone in the federal criminal justice system is not only afforded the rights guaranteed by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, but is also treated fairly and humanely.”
The report further stated that “they undermined the federal death penalty and left victims, their families, their communities, and the Nation to bear the consequences.”
According to the DPIC, DOJ data cited in the report shows a visible decline in capital prosecutions over the past two decades before the Trump administration resumed federal executions. In support of that shift, the report noted that “the executions had a profound impact on the victims’ families.”
In advocating for the inclusion of firing squads, the report argued the practice is historically prevalent and has been upheld by the Supreme Court. Citing Wilkerson v. Utah as precedent, the DOJ did not address the widely documented circumstances of the execution, during which Wilkerson reportedly suffered for approximately 30 minutes after bullets failed to strike his heart.
Parallel to that case, the DPIC highlighted multiple instances of botched executions involving firing squads and electrocution. In several cases, incarcerated people survived initial execution attempts and were subjected to additional electrocution attempts.
Despite those incidents, the DOJ report claimed electrocution was historically common and “the predominant method of execution until 1972, when the Supreme Court’s decision in Furman v. Georgia temporarily paused capital punishment in the United States.”
Like firing squads, electrocution has not been fully reevaluated by the Supreme Court under evolving standards of decency and Eighth Amendment protections against cruel and unusual punishment.
The DPIC stated that electrocution has resulted in numerous botched executions, leading courts and legal advocates to question its constitutionality. Both the Georgia and Nebraska Supreme Courts have ruled the practice constitutes cruel and unusual punishment.
The DOJ also characterized lethal injection as a historically accepted execution method that does not violate the Eighth Amendment. However, like the other methods discussed in the report, lethal injection has also resulted in prolonged and incomplete executions.
The report relied heavily on the Supreme Court’s repeated denial of certiorari in challenges involving lethal gas and other execution methods, arguing those denials support the constitutionality of lethal injection. However, the court has not directly ruled that such methods fully comply with the Eighth Amendment.
By failing to address the documented problems associated with firing squads, electrocution and lethal injection, critics argue the DOJ report presents a misleading narrative regarding the constitutionality and humaneness of reinstating those execution methods.
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