Utah to use firing squad

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The Utah State Senate recently voted to bring back death by firing squad. This will only happen if lethal injection drugs were unavailable when needed.

Deaths by firing squad consist of the execution of a con- demned person by shooting.

According to the The New York Time’s website: “Only three death row inmates have been executed by firing squad since 1976, all in Utah.”

As of the last execution date, 13 other prisoners have also been executed, according to the website of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

One of the 13 was in Missouri.

The state’s department of cor- rections lists 10 condemned inmates whose trials were held in San Joaquin County as of April 6.

Most states now use lethal injection as a way of execution style for death row inmates.

“Bullets are cheaper and their death sentence would flow a lot smoother. It’ll also help with the overcrowding prisons,” said Delta College student John Castro.

The new execution style will have many pros and cons. It also raises questions.

Utah will be the only state in the country to allow execution by firing squad. However, it will not be available at the prisoner’s request.

It all depends on the accessibil- ity of the lethal injection drugs.

“Douglas Lovell was recently sentenced to death for mur- der. If the drugs aren’t available when his execution date is set, then under the new law, he will be put to death by firing squad,” as NPR reported

While no standard protocol exists, there is a possible out- lined procedure.

“There is no official proce- dure for execution by firing squad. However, it is believed that five correctional officers will participate, each aiming at the inmate’s trunk. Some will have blanks and some will have live ammunition so that no one knows which gun committed the actual killing,” according to the website for the International Justice Program.