US Federal Government to resume capital punishment after nearly two decade lapse

The US federal government is to resume executing death-row inmates after nearly two decades without an execution, the Justice Department says.

Attorney General William Barr directed the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) to schedule the executions of five inmates convicted of murder and other crimes.

“Congress has expressly authorized the death penalty through legislation adopted by the people’s representatives in both houses of Congress and signed by the President,” Attorney General Barr said. 

Mr Barr directed the BOP to adopt an addendum allowing prisons to use the single drug Phenobarbital.

The executions have been scheduled for December 2019 and January 2020.