DOJ Expands Execution Methods as Pope Condemns Death Penalty

The U.S. Department of Justice announced on Friday that it will expand federal execution methods to include firing squads, electrocution, and lethal gas, alongside reinstating lethal injection with pentobarbital, as part of a broader effort to strengthen capital punishment under President Donald Trump. The move, detailed in a report from the DOJ's Office of Legal Policy, came hours before Pope Leo XIV, the first American-born pontiff, issued a video message condemning the death penalty as an attack on human dignity, marking the 15th anniversary of Illinois' abolition of capital punishment.

The announcement directs the Federal Bureau of Prisons to adopt these protocols, which the DOJ described as consistent with the Eighth Amendment. Officials argued that pentobarbital, a single-drug sedative previously used during Trump's first term, renders inmates unconscious quickly enough to avoid unnecessary suffering, countering a review under former President Joe Biden that halted its use in 2021 due to concerns over pain. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche stated the changes fulfill the government's duty to pursue and implement lawful death sentences after appeals are exhausted. The...