In the dead of night on Thursday, Attorney General Merrick Garland announced a temporary moratorium on federal executions while he conducts a “review of the Justice Department’s policies and procedures” on capital punishment. In so doing, he reverses predecessor William Barr, who oversaw the first federal executions since 2003, and officially enacts a plan first floated by Eric Holder, essentially formalizing the informal moratorium that Barack Obama oversaw for two terms.
The stated reason for the hold is a review of Barr’s policy changes, particularly the risk of pain and suffering created by the DOJ’s switch to using the barbiturate pentobarbital for its lethal injections. The drug has been used in over 100 executions, and capital offenders routinely request it as a less painful alternative to other execution methods; the Supreme Court and dozens of inferior courts have explicitly said its use does not contravene the Eighth Amendment.
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