US Attorney General Bill Barr announced Thursday that the federal government will resume implementing capital punishment after a 16-year hiatus and set execution dates for five convicted murderers.
Acting on President Donald Trump's call for tougher penalties on violent crimes, Barr directed the Federal Bureau of Prisons to adopt a new protocol for execution by lethal injection, as 14 states already do, to clear the way to carry out death sentences.
"The Justice Department upholds the rule of law - and we owe it to the victims and their families to carry forward the sentence imposed by our justice system," Barr said in a statement.