Idaho will become the only state to fatally shoot death row inmates as its main execution method. Idaho Gov. Brad Little on Wednesday morning signed into law House Bill 37, which will make the firing squad the primary death penalty in Idaho, News From The States reports. Both chambers of the Idaho Legislature widely approved the bill this year, with only three Republican state lawmakers joining all 15 Democratic lawmakers to oppose it. The Senate passed the bill on a 28-7 vote last week, a month after the House passed it on a 58-11 vote. The bill takes effect July 1, 2026.
The Idaho Department of Correction spokesperson Sanda Kuzeta-Cerimagic told the Sun in February the agency is considering using “a remote-operated weapons system alongside traditional firing squad methods.” But the agency had not finalized its policies and procedures, she said. Supporters of the bill say the firing squad is a humane execution method. Using firing squads as the main execution method, supporters say, would avoid Idaho’s issues obtaining lethal injection chemicals and dealing with decades of legal appeals that have delayed executions. Only five states allow firing squads for executions. But the firing squad isn’t the primary death penalty method in any of those states, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.
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