Idaho is one step closer to allowing execution by firing squad as an alternative death penalty sentence to lethal injection after lawmakers passed the bill with a veto-proof majority. Firing squads will only be used if lethal injections can't be obtained.
The firing squads will only be used in the event that the state cannot obtain the drugs needed for lethal injections. The method was legal in Idaho from 1982 to 2009.The bill now heads to Gov. Brad Little 's desk. While he typically does not comment on legislation prior to signing or vetoing it, Little has voiced support for the death penalty in the past.
2022 was dubbed the "year of the botched execution" by the Death Penalty Information Center after seven of 20 execution attempts were visibly problematic due to either executioner incompetence or protocol failures. “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.”
If the bill is signed, firing squad executions might face some roadblocks. The department said it would cost approximately $750,000 to build or furnish a firing squad execution chamber. Director Jeff Tewalt said last year he predicted there would be several legal challenges to planned firing squad executions as there are with lethal injections.“I don’t feel, as the director of the Idaho Department of Correction, the compulsion to ask my staff to do that,” Tewalt said.
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