Idaho Gov. Brad Little signed legislation into law on Friday that added firing squads as an alternative method of execution for the state’s death-row inmates.
“Throughout my life in public service, I have supported capital punishment when our justice system determines death is the only appropriate sentence for a person who committed a heinous crime,” Little wrote in the letter.
“While I am signing this bill, it is important to point out that fulfilling justice can and must be done by minimizing stress on corrections personnel,” he added. “For the people on death row, a jury convicted them of their crimes, and they were lawfully sentenced to death. It is the responsibility of the state of Idaho to follow the law and ensure that lawful criminal sentences are carried out.”
Sen. Doug Ricks, a Republican who co-sponsored the bill, told his fellow senators on Monday that the state’s difficulty in finding lethal injection drugs could continue “indefinitely,” noting that he thinks death by firing squad is “humane.”
“This is a rule of law issue—our criminal system should work and penalties should be exacted,” Ricks said.
Sen. Dan Foreman, also a Republican, meanwhile, argued that the method of execution would traumatize the people who carry them out, as well as the people who witness them and those who clean up afterward.
“I’ve seen the aftermath of shootings, and it’s psychologically damaging to anybody who witnesses it,” Foreman said. “The use of the firing squad is, in my opinion, beneath the dignity of the state of Idaho.”
Return of Firing Squads
Idaho follows four other states that permit firing squads—Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Utah—according to the Death Penalty Information Center. Currently, the death penalty is authorized in 24 states, while three states have moratoriums in place.Former President Donald Trump repeatedly expressed support for capital punishment and restarted the practice at the federal level in 2020 after a 17-year hiatus. Trump argued that executions serve as an effective deterrent and an appropriate punishment for some crimes, including mass shootings and the killings of police officers.
President Joe Biden, meanwhile, is the first sitting U.S. president in American history to openly and publicly oppose the death penalty and advocate its abolition.
Biden’s attorney general, Merrick Garland, ordered a temporary pause on federal executions in 2021 while the Department of Justice reviewed protocols. Garland did not say how long the moratorium will last.
Although Biden pledged during his campaign to work at ending the death penalty nationwide, he has remained silent on the issue as president.