Those sentenced to death could soon be executed by firing squad in the US state of Idaho. The Senate of the state in the north of the USA passed a corresponding law yesterday, as reported by US media.
The Idaho House of Representatives had previously approved it. It provides for the possibility of execution by firing squad if the lethal injection chemicals are not available. The text of the law is now with the governor to sign.
According to the Death Penalty Information Center, there have been three executions by firing squad in the United States since 1976, most recently in Utah in 2010. Only the states of Mississippi, Utah, and Oklahoma currently allow firing squads when other methods of execution are unavailable. A corresponding law in South Carolina was challenged and is going through the courts there.
Law is “horrible”
According to the Death Penalty Information Center, 23 of the 50 states have abolished the death penalty. In US states with the death penalty, lethal injection is the primary method used. Due to a lack of the necessary lethal preparations, executions have repeatedly been postponed in recent years.
There is now an alternative to carrying out the death sentence, Attorney General Raúl Labrador told the local newspaper “Idaho Statesman”. He was involved in drafting the text of the law.
The civil rights organization ACLU called the law “appalling”. “A firing squad is particularly cruel.” The violence of such executions leaves lasting scars on everyone involved.
