A bill to make death by firing squad the main method of execution in Idaho is moving to the Senate floor for a vote after passing the Senate Judiciary and Rules Committee on Wednesday afternoon. If House Bill 37 is passed into law, Idaho could become the only state in the U.S. to have death by firing squad as the primary death penalty method, News From The States reports. The bill’s cosponsor, Rep. Bruce Skaug, R-Nampa, also said on the House floor he believes death by firing squad is a more humane execution method because it is “quick” and “certain.” Nine people are on death row in Idaho, and lethal injection is the primary way to execute them, according to Idaho law. In 2023, Idaho implemented a law to allow firing squads as an execution method when lethal injection is unavailable. And in February 2024, Idaho attempted to execute 74-year-old Thomas Creech by lethal injection, but the execution attempt failed after the execution team was unable to locate a vein for an IV to inject him with the chemicals.
Sen. Dan Foreman, R-Viola, was the only Republican on the committee to oppose the bill. “It’s cruel, and it’s inhumane,” Foreman told the committee. “I think quite frankly it’s beneath the dignity of the state of Idaho. I say that with no animosity directed at anybody, but since I’m sitting here I have an obligation to tell you how I feel on any given bill.” Only five states — Idaho, Utah, South Carolina, Oklahoma and Mississippi — allow firing squads for executions. But the firing squad isn’t the primary death penalty method in any of those states, according to a spokesperson for the Death Penalty Information Center. Excluding military executions, 144 people have been executed by firing squads in the entire history of the United States, according to a 2016 law review article. Only three of those firing squad executions have taken place since 1976 — all in Utah — according to the Death Penalty Information Center.
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