April 24 (UPI) -- The Department of Justice said on Friday it has reinstated the use of lethal injection and expanded the execution protocol to include firing squad, which are among other moves to streamline use of the death penalty for capital cases.
An unofficial moratorium on federal executions lasted from 2003 until 2019, when then-Attorney General William Barr announced a plan to resume executions.
After the first Trump administration executed 13 federal death row prisoners between July 2020 and January 2021, Biden's attorney general, Merrick Garland, announced a moratorium on all federal executions.
With Thursday's announcement, the Trump administration has come full circle as it rescinded Biden-era death penalty commutations and has authorized seeking the death penalty against nine of 44 defendants the department is seeking it for.
"The prior administration failed in its duty to protect the American people by refusing to pursue and carry out the ultimate punishment against the most dangerous criminals, including terrorists, child murderers and copy killers," Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a press release.
