‘PARTICULARLY GRUESOME’

Idaho Will Allow Firing Squad as Alternative Execution Method

Idaho Governor Brad Little signed a bill Friday permitting the state to execute those incarcerated on death row via firing squad when lethal injection is not an option.

Idaho Governor Brad Little signed a bill Friday permitting the state to execute those incarcerated on death row via firing squad when lethal injection is not an option beginning in July. The move comes amid a wave of support from state Republicans to implement the method after officials said they could not secure the drugs necessary for lethal injection, preventing them from carrying out death sentences. State Representative Bruce Skaug (R) told the Idaho Statesman that a firing squad would result in less litigation and was a more humane method than lethal injection. The bill has received push back, with Leo Morales—executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Idaho—telling the Statesman that a firing squad is an "archaic and particularly gruesome” method of execution.