New DOJ rule could allow electrocution and firing squad executions: report

New Department of Justice (DOJ) rule could allow some federal death sentences to be carried out by states using methods other than lethal injection, including the use of poison gas, electrocution and squads execution.

The modified rule in the Federal Register was published Friday. This would allow the US government to carry out executions by lethal injection or to use “any other manner prescribed by the law of the state in which the sentence was imposed.”

A DOJ official told The Associated Press that the change was made to apply the measures of the Federal Death Penalty Act (FDPA), which required that sentences be applied “in the manner prescribed by the law of the State in which the sentence is imposed. ″

Speaking to the AP on condition of anonymity to discuss the department’s internal protocols, the official said two executions scheduled for December would be by lethal injection.

The official did not comment on the methods used for the other three executions scheduled for January, before the president-elect Joe bidenJoe BidenTrump says he will leave the White House if Biden is declared winner of Electoral College The Memo: Biden faces tough road to pledge to heal American nation records 2,300 COVID-19 deaths as pandemic escalates with vacation PLUSinauguration of.

The new rule will take effect on December 24.

FDPA Changes Come As Attorney General William barrBill BarrClyburn: Biden fails to name black figures to top positions Five federal inmates to be executed before inauguration day Redeem Justice: The Next Attorney General MORE resumed federal executions this year after a 17-year hiatus.

All states that apply the death penalty allow lethal injection methods. Those sentenced to the death penalty are usually given injections, according to data compiled by the nonprofit information center on the death penalty.

Yet, because lethal injection drugs are difficult to obtain, some states have resorted to alternative methods of carrying out executions, such as the use of nitrogen gas.

In 2018, the state of Alabama joined with Oklahoma and Mississippi in approving the use of nitrogen gas to execute prisoners.

Following a botched execution in Oklahoma six years ago, President Obama ordered the DOJ to conduct a full-scale review of the death penalty and human rights issues surrounding lethal injection drugs .

Some states allow inmates to choose their method of execution, such as Florida, which allows death row inmates to request death by electrocution.

In Utah, prisoners convicted before 2004 can choose to be killed by firing squads, and state law also allows the use of firing squads if lethal injection drugs are not available.

The first federal execution to have taken place since 2003 took place in July.