US attorney general freezes all federal executions

President Joe Biden, a Democrat, pledged during his campaign to support legislation to end the death penalty.

US Attorney General Merrick Garland has ordered a moratorium on federal executions while the Justice Department continues its review of the death penalty, the department said in a statement. “The Department of Justice must ensure that everyone in the federal criminal justice system is not only afforded the rights guaranteed by the Constitution and laws of the United States, but is also treated fairly and humanely,” Garland said in the statement on Thursday. “That obligation has special force in capital cases.”