‘BENEATH THE DIGNITY’

Firing Squad Bill on Its Way to Idaho Governor’s Desk

It would be the fifth state to bring back the method of execution.

A bill that would allow firing squads to execute death-row inmates passed Idaho’s Senate 24-11 on Monday and is now headed for the governor’s desk. If he signs it, Idaho would become the fifth state to bring back the method of capital punishment—which even some death-penalty supporters say should remain in the past. “I’ve seen the aftermath of shootings, and it’s psychologically damaging to anybody who witnesses it. It’s, in a word, ‘brutal,’” Sen. Dan Foreman, a retired cop, said on the Senate floor, according to the Idaho Statesman. “And the use of the firing squad, in my opinion, is beneath the dignity of the state of Idaho. We have to find a better way.”