Law Professor Says Fort Hood Firing Squad Could Lead to Wider Use

Fox News reports that a leading death penalty scholar believes the military's planned firing squad execution of the 2009 Fort Hood shooter could lead to wider use of the method nationwide.

Snapshot

Fox News reports on the planned Dec. 3 firing squad execution of the 2009 Fort Hood shooter and why Fordham Law Professor Deborah Denno thinks it could spread as states move away from lethal injection. Denno calls the firing squad the least inhumane method, with few problem cases in U.S. history, though she called a recent South Carolina execution, where defense lawyers said shots missed the heart, troubling.

Key points

• The case: The Trump administration announced the firing squad sentence for the man convicted of the 2009 attack at the Army base, which killed 13 people and wounded 32.
• The date: The Pentagon told Fox News Digital it plans to livestream the execution, set for Dec. 3. The Army says its most recent execution was a 1961 hanging at Fort Leavenworth.
• The expert view: Fordham Law Professor Deborah Denno described the firing squad as quicker and more certain, calling it the "least inhumane method of execution."
• State trend: Idaho, Utah and South Carolina are among the states that have embraced the method as lethal injection loses favor over drug supply and reliability concerns.
• A recent problem: After a South Carolina firing squad execution last year, defense lawyers said the shots missed the heart, and a pathologist they hired said only two of three bullets struck.

Quick take

Denno told Fox News Digital the method has drawn far fewer controversies over U.S. history, with only two problem cases before recent years, in 1877 and 1951. She added that skilled shooters are easy to find among police, corrections officers and hobbyists. Still, she called the South Carolina outcome troubling and worth watching on Dec. 3.

Read the full story at Fox News.