March 26 (UPI) — Idaho Gov. Brad Little has signed legislation allowing for the execution of inmates by firing squad.
On Friday, Little signed House Bill 186, which allows firing squads as an alternate execution method to lethal injection.
The new law charges the director of the Department of Corrections with determining if lethal injection is available within five days of a death warrant being issued and that if it is not available, a firing squad will be used.
“The families of the victims deserve justice for their loved ones and the death penalty is a way to bring them peace,” Little said in a statement.
According to Idaho’s attorney general, the state has been unable to obtain drugs for lethal injection.
The legislation, which passed the state House of Representatives 50-15 and the State Senate 24-11, makes Idaho one of five states that authorize firing squads.
The others include Utah, South Carolina, Oklahoma and Mississippi.
Democratic State Rep. Lauren Necochea, who voted against the legislation, said the law would leave Idaho open to costly legal challenges “related to the 8th Amendment, which prohibits cruel and unusual punishment,” she tweeted after the measure passed.
The bill contains language suggesting it would cost $750,000 to set up facilities for firing squads.
Idaho has been trying to execute 67-year-old death row inmate Gerald Pizzuto Jr., but has been unable to obtain pentobarbital to go forward with the execution.
A study of autopsy reports examined in 2020 by Dr. Joel Zivot and anatomical pathologist Mark Edgar revealed that lungs of prisoners executed via lethal injection often showed signs of pulmonary edema, National Public Radio reported.
The condition occurs where fluid fills the lungs, indicating the inmates were conscious and in extreme pain during their executions, the pair concluded.
