The administration of United States President Donald Trump has announced plans to expand the use of the federal death penalty, including through the deployment of firing squads.The announcement on Friday was part of a policy document issued by the Department of Justice, setting out the legal argument for various methods of execution.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of listIt touted steps for “restoring and strengthening” the death penalty as integral to the pursuit of justice.“The Department of Justice acted to restore its solemn duty to seek, obtain, and implement lawful capital sentences – clearing the way for the Department to carry out executions once death-sentenced inmates have exhausted their appeals,” the Justice Department said in a news release.While the Eighth Amendment of the US Constitution outlaws “cruel and unusual punishments”, the Justice Department maintains that execution by gunfire, electrocution and lethal gas are all legally acceptable.The policy document also takes aim at Trump’s predecessor, Democrat Joe Biden, for implementing a moratorium on the federal executions.“The federal death penalty has been rendered a dead letter, effectively transforming sub silentio each death sentence into a life sentence,” Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche wrote in a statement.“This changed when Donald Trump became President.”Trump has long been an advocate for increasing the use of the death penalty, even before his presidency.In 1989, for instance, he took out full-page advertisements after the …
