The Trump administration is shattering a gruesome record on its way out, executing more federal prisoners in a matter of months — including two this week — than over the past several decades combined…
The big picture: Historically, states carry out most executions in the U.S. But in the last five months, more federal executions have taken place than in any year since the 1920s, according to Bureau of Prisons.
Before then, the federal government had only executed three people since 1963.
Federal executions had been stalled for 16 years, until Attorney General Bill Barr resumed federal capital punishment in July.
After Bernard and Bourgeois’ deaths, 10 out of 17 total executions this year will have been done at the federal level, according to nonprofit advocacy group Death Penalty Information Center.
