Garland’s Cynical Rescission of the Death Penalty Protocol

Merrick Garland continues his bid to outrank Eric Holder as the most partisan attorney general in American history. On Wednesday, he rescinded the federal death penalty protocol — essentially, just as President-elect Donald Trump is about to take office, and four years after Garland could have taken this cynical action if he truly believed it was warranted.

Garland issued a memorandum to the Bureau of Prisons in which he reported that the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Policy determined that the administration of phenobarbital is . . . problematic. The federal government’s execution protocol, which has not been invoked since President Biden took office in 2021, when Garland imposed a death penalty moratorium, calls for the lethal injection of phenobarbital sodium. Garland claims that such injections could lead to a degree of pain and suffering that might violate what he takes to be the government’s “responsibility to treat individuals humanely and avoid unnecessary pain and suffering.”

About the Author

Andrew C. McCarthy

Andrew C. McCarthy is a senior fellow at National Review Institute, an NR contributing editor, and author of Ball of Collusion: The Plot to Rig an Election and Destroy a Presidency.

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Merrick Garland continues his bid to outrank Eric Holder as the most partisan attorney general in American history. On Wednesday, he rescinded the federal death penalty protocol — essentially, just as President-elect Donald Trump is about to take office, and four years after Garland could have taken this cynical action if he truly believed it was warranted.

Garland issued a memorandum to the Bureau of Prisons in which he reported that the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Policy determined that the administration of phenobarbital is . . . problematic. The federal government’s execution protocol, which has not been invoked since President Biden took office in 2021, when Garland imposed a death penalty moratorium, calls for the lethal injection of phenobarbital sodium. Garland claims that such injections could lead to a degree of pain and suffering that might violate what he takes to be the government’s “responsibility to treat individuals humanely and avoid unnecessary pain and suffering.”

About the Author

Andrew C. McCarthy

Andrew C. McCarthy is a senior fellow at National Review Institute, an NR contributing editor, and author of Ball of Collusion: The Plot to Rig an Election and Destroy a Presidency.