Justice Department Calls for Expansion of Federal Death Penalty

The US Justice Department on Friday released a sweeping report calling for a significant expansion of the federal death penalty, including policy recommendations for faster executions, widening the use of capital punishment, and adopting additional execution methods.

Among key recommendations, the new report calls for the Bureau of Prisons to reinstate the use of pentobarbital as the primary drug for lethal injections, and to broaden execution options to include firing squads, electrocution, and lethal gas.

The report lays out a strategy to restore and strengthen the government’s use of the death penalty following what officials described as a period of ...