This morning, the Department of Justice issued a press release titled Federal Government to Resume Capital Punishment After Nearly Two Decade Lapse: Attorney General William P. Barr Directs the Federal Bureau of Prisons to Adopt an Addendum to the Federal Execution Protocol and Schedule the Executions of Five Death-Row Inmates Convicted of Murdering Children. As the lengthy title suggests, Attorney General Barr has “directed the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) to adopt a proposed Addendum to the Federal Execution Protocol—clearing the way for the federal government to resume capital punishment after a nearly two decade lapse . . . .” Further, the Attorney General has “directed the Acting Director of the BOP, Hugh Hurwitz, to schedule the executions of five death-row inmates,” with three executions scheduled for early December 2019.
Louis Jones was executed by the federal government on March 18, 2003—the last of three federal death-row inmates executed since the reinstatement of the federal death penalty in 1988. There are currently 62 federal death-row prisoners. The Training Division provides resources to federal capital trial, appeal, and postconviction counsel through the Capital Defense Network.