The US government under Joe Biden has ordered a halt on federal executions that were resumed in 2020 under the Trump administration after a 17-year hiatus.
The Trump administration carried out 13 federal executions during the
former president's final months in office, before the Trump the last
execution occured 17 years ago during the Bush Administration.
However President Joe Biden, who appointed Merrick Garland, the US
government's attorney general, has paused the executions while Garland
also ordered a review of the rules around the death penalty
Garland also ordered officials to review the drugs administered during
lethal injection amid reports that prisoners may have experienced severe
pain while dying.
In issuing the moratorium, Attorney General Garland cited the
disproportionate number of racial minorities who are sentenced to
capital punishment.
"The Department of Justice must ensure that everyone in the federal
criminal justice system is not only afforded the rights guaranteed by
the constitution and laws of the United States, but is also treated
fairly and humanely," Mr Garland said.
"That obligation has special force in capital cases."
The majority of US executions are administered by states, where some 2,500 prisoners are on death row. Texas leads the country with 570 executions since 1976.
