Idaho To Execute Death Row Prisoners By Firing Squad
Idaho is set to start executing death row prisoners by firing squad due to a nationwide shortage of lethal injection drugs in the United States. Idaho is now the fifth state to pass the new law.
Low supplies of the drugs required to carry out lethal injection executions have seen pharmaceutical companies blocking prisons from using them to kill prisoners.
Idaho has now joined South Carolina, Oklahoma, Utah, and Mississippi in allowing firing squads to carry out executions if the substances are unavailable for lethal injections.
The law in South Carolina is currently on hold following a legal challenge, however, Idaho's bill passed through its state legislature without issue earlier this week and was signed by Republican governor Brad Little.
Mr Little said: "While I am signing this bill, it is important to point out that fulfilling justice can and must be done by minimising stress on corrections personnel.
"For the people on death row, a jury convicted them of their crimes, and they were lawfully sentenced to death."
Senator Dan Foreman, also a Republican, opposes the new ruling, describing it as "beneath the dignity of the state," saying it would be traumatising for the executioners, witnesses, and the staff who would clean up after.
In President Joe Biden's 2020 election campaign, he pledged to work towards abolishing the death penalty nationwide, but hasn't pressed the issue since taking office.
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