Just hours after his inauguration, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order restoring the federal death penalty, which had been on moratorium since 2021 under President Joe Biden. The President also directed the Attorney to make capital punishment a priority in cases where law enforcement officers are killed or “committed by an alien illegally present” in the country. It also requires the Department of Justice to obtain a stable supply of lethal injection drugs, which has been a recurring problem for states carrying out executions.
Trump’s move marks a return to the aggressive approach on federal executions that characterised his previous term. Between 2020 and early 2021, his administration executed 13 federal prisoners, the most in one year since Grover Cleveland’s presidency in 1896. The unprecedented run in executions concluded just five days before the inauguration of President Joe Biden — an opponent of the federal death penalty. Only three defendants remain on death row after Biden converted 37 death sentences to life in prison.
News Editor
Journalist and Newscaster
Leave a Reply