Lawmakers ask U.S. Justice Department to stop seeking death penalty

By Jonathan Allen, Reuters Posted on August 9, 2021

2021-08-09T175703Z_1_LYNXMPEH780TA_RTROPTP_3_USA-JUSTICE-GRANTS

Four members of the U.S. Congress working to abolish capital punishment wrote to Attorney General Merrick Garland on Monday to ask that he order Department of Justice attorneys to stop seeking the death penalty.

Garland has already ordered a pause on scheduling execution dates for any of the 46 men on federal death row, saying in his July announcement a moratorium was necessary while his department reviewed whether the government’s protocols for capital punishment were fair and humane.