The Department of Justice (DOJ) just announced it’s bringing back firing squads for federal executions, a move that’s already drawing sharp criticism from opponents of capital punishment. The policy shift, unveiled in a document on April 24, 2026, outlines plans to expand the use of the death penalty under the current administration, including the revival of execution methods like firing squads, electrocution, and lethal gas.
According to Al Jazeera, the DOJ framed the decision as a return to justice, arguing that the federal death penalty had been effectively gutted under the Biden administration. The policy document explicitly calls the pause on federal executions a failure that turned death sentences into de facto life terms.
