The Justice Department has decided to rescind its protocol for federal executions that allowed for single-drug lethal injections with pentobarbital. This decision comes after a government review raised concerns about the potential for 'unnecessary pain and suffering.' Attorney General Merrick Garland has ordered the withdrawal of the lethal injection policy just days before President-elect Donald Trump is expected to return to the White House, with the possibility of reinstating the protocol to use pentobarbital as a single drug for executions.
A moratorium on federal executions has been in place since 2021, with only three defendants remaining on federal death row after President Joe Biden converted 37 of their sentences to life in prison. The government's findings regarding the risks of unnecessary pain could have broader implications, potentially leading to reviews of execution protocols nationwide.
The Justice Department's review of scientific and medical research revealed 'significant uncertainty' about whether the use of pentobarbital as a single drug lethal injection causes unnecessary pain and suffering. In light of this uncertainty, Garland emphasized the importance of treating individuals humanely and avoiding unnecessary pain and suffering.
The report highlighted that the Food and Drug Administration has not reviewed or approved the use of pentobarbital in high doses for the purpose of causing death. The pentobarbital protocol was adopted during Trump's first term to replace a three-drug mix used in the 2000s, and the Trump administration carried out 13 federal executions, the most under any modern president.
Legal challenges have been brought in several states where pentobarbital is the primary method of execution, raising questions about the constitutionality of the method. The review has been described as a 'damning condemnation' of using pentobarbital for executions, with calls for jurisdictions to discontinue this method immediately.
Biden's decision to commute the sentences of most death row inmates has spared the lives of many individuals convicted of serious crimes. However, three federal inmates, including Dylann Roof, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, and Robert Bowers, still face execution for their crimes.
