ATTORNEY GENERAL/CRIME/JUSTICE DEPARTMENT/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The federal government has ordered the death penalty to be reinstated for the first time in nearly two decades, as Attorney General William Barr directed the Bureau of Prisons to schedule the execution of five inmates after adopting an updated execution protocol. After 16 years without an execution, Barr has directed the head of the Bureau of Prisons to execute ‘five death-row inmates convicted of murdering, and in some cases torturing and raping, the most vulnerable in our society — children and the elderly’ in December and January, according to a statement from the Department of Justice. In his statement, Barr said the government was moving to seek justice against the ‘worst criminals’ and bring relief to victims and family members. At the same time, however, the government’s move is likely to reignite legal challenges to the specific protocol and reinvigorate a debate concerning the constitutionality of lethal injection.”
–Tammy Kupperman, Ariane de Vogue and Veronica Stracqualursi, “Barr directs federal government to reinstate death penalty, schedule the execution of 5 death row inmates,” CNN Politics, CNN.com, July 25, 2019 1:55 pm