A bill that would establish the firing squad as the primary method of execution in Idaho was advanced by Idaho House Republicans on Monday.
Rep. Bruce Skaug, R-Nampa, the bill sponsor, presented House Bill 37 to the Idaho House Judiciary, Rules and Administration Committee on Monday, calling the firing squad more humanitarian because to its speed and certainty.
If you’re unfamiliar with the past, you could initially believe that firing squads are barbarous. That’s what I’ve heard from certain people, he told the committee. It’s for sure. It’s fast. Furthermore, compared to other forms, it expeditiously gives justice to the victims and their families.
I believe that compared to intravenous injections, there will be fewer appeals in the courts about firing squads. Additionally, Skaug added, there will be fewer unsuccessful attempts to apply the death penalty when it reaches that stage.
The Idaho Department of Corrections reports that there are nine individuals on Idaho’s death row.
Skaug also informed senators that Idaho’s firing squad execution procedure would be automated, but that the director of the Idaho Department of Corrections will decide how to implement the procedure.
Therefore, there won’t be a line of volunteers brandishing firearms. Additionally, it will differ greatly from how Utah has previously conducted theirs, Skaug stated. Our director’s main objective is to ensure that everyone involved—including the convicted—is treated with dignity and compassion.
The bill was sent to the Idaho House by a vote of all Republicans on the Idaho House Judiciary, Rules, and Administration Committee. Rep. John Gannon and Rep. Chris Mathias, both Democrats from Boise, were on the committee and both voted against the bill. Ilana Rubel, D-Boise, the minority leader of the Idaho House, did not attend the committee vote.
Skaug’s measure has 16 Idaho Republican House members as co-sponsors.
Following the committee meeting, Skaug told the Idaho Capital Sun that the director of the Idaho Department of Corrections had informed him that the state would automate the use of the firing squad death penalty in Idaho.
According to the director, he will have an automated system. In an interview with the Sun, Skaug said, “I don’t remember the specifics of whether it’s more than one button or multiple buttons that would be pushed to automatically fire the rifles.”
A comment from the Idaho Department of Correction was not immediately available.
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An Idaho AG lawyer claims that the bill will result in fewer lawsuits.
In their testimony, two pro-bill advocates mostly referred to the firing squad as a more efficient alternative to the death penalty. Four witnesses opposed the bill, and many of them described firing squads as a gory practice. Additionally, some opponents claimed that it was unclear how much it would cost to execute the death penalty by firing squad.
LaMont Anderson, a deputy attorney general in the capital litigation unit of the Idaho Attorney General’s Office, informed the committee that the firing squad was ruled to be constitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court. He added that some federal judges have even stated that the firing squad is, in fact, quicker and more merciful.
Anderson informed lawmakers that the largest benefit is actually fewer litigation, as chairman Skaug mentioned.
Anderson cited years of court rulings involving the death penalty in Idaho, which he claimed only addressed the method of execution.
Skaug responded to worries about the effects on staff by stating that Idaho’s firing squad will be mechanized.
Skaug informed the committee that the mechanical application addresses many of the concerns raised by certain individuals discussing mental health concerns. However, most volunteers will be aware of what they are entering into.
Only five states permit the death punishment by firing squad.
The main method of execution under Idaho law is lethal injection.
In 2023, a bill authorizing the use of fire squads as a form of execution was enacted by the Idaho Legislature and signed into law by Governor Brad Little. However, that law merely permitted firing squads as a backup executive procedure in the event that fatal injection was not available.
Lethal injection would be the other method of execution under Skaug’s plan this year.
According to the Death Penalty Information Center, only five states permit fire squads for execution: Idaho, Utah, South Carolina, Oklahoma, and Mississippi.
According to a 2016 law review article, firing squads have been used in 144 executions in the US.
According to the Death Penalty Information Center, Utah is the only state to have carried out firing squad executions since the death penalty was revived in the 1970s.
In 2024, Idaho canceled the last scheduled execution via lethal injection.
As previously reported by the Idaho Capital Sun, the Idaho Department of Correction canceled the planned execution of death row inmate Thomas Creech in February 2024 after officials claimed they had not set up an IV line to deliver lethal injection chemicals.
According to Idaho Reports in September, the IDOC started remodeling the execution chamber at the Idaho Maximum Security Institution near Kuna after Creech’s execution was postponed.
At the time, Sanda Kuzeta-Cerimagic, an IDOC spokesman, told Idaho Reports that part of the retrofit’s second phase was assessing layout and architectural possibilities for a firing squad.
IDOC declared in October that a central vein might be used for lethal injections for execution.
The cost of the Idaho firing squad facility will exceed the budgeted amount by lawmakers. However, Skaug states that further expenses will come from the agency’s budget.
There would be no fiscal impact, according to the bill’s fiscal note.
According to the bill’s budgetary note, the Idaho Legislature has already approved $750,000 to construct or renovate a firing squad facility at the Idaho Department of Correction, and it does not anticipate that more money will be asked for.
Skaug admitted that additional funding will be required to build the firing squad facilities. However, he informed the committee that it would not require a second legislative budget request and would be funded from money currently in the Department of Correction budget.
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