Idaho has officially implemented the firing squad as its primary execution method, completing a $1 million renovation of its capital punishment facility.
The state corrected its death chamber at a maximum-security prison near Boise to meet a legislative deadline of July 1.
The Idaho Department of Correction finalized preparations by acquiring specialized rifles and retrofitting the execution space. Officials confirmed readiness following recent obstacles with alternative execution methods nationwide.
“The department will be prepared to carry out an execution order after July 1,” the department stated.
It emphasized that operational guidelines aim “to ensure that any execution is conducted in a secure, orderly, and dignified manner.”
Historical and Modern Concerns Over Firing Squads
Historical records show that execution by gunfire has occasionally resulted in severe complications.
In an 1879 execution, condemned prisoner Wallace Wilkerson cried out after marksmen missed his heart: “Oh, my God!
My God! They have missed.”
Legal experts have scrutinized historical cases where marksmen veered from targets.
Law professor Martin Gardner analyzed a 1951 Utah execution where bullets missed the intended area, writing, “It appears the misses were intentional.”
He questioned whether the riflemen “wished to torture the victim or feared to inflict the fatal shot in the heart.”
Media witnesses have documented modern instances of prolonged executions. A journalist covering an early execution noted the condemned “died silently and horribly.”
During the 2010 execution of Ronnie Lee Gardner, onlookers observed signs of physical distress and an “excruciating wait for Gardner to die.”
Medical professionals reviewing autopsy reports raised concerns about modern firing squads. Dr. Jonathan Groner, emeritus professor of surgery, examined evidence from the 2010 case and noticed targeting discrepancies.
“I was concerned that the shooters’ aim was not perfect,” he said.
He suggested potential systemic issues, stating, “it seems possible that there is some sort of implicit bias in the execution process.”
Advocacy groups responded with public awareness efforts.
An activist organization launched a campaign addressing the precision of state marksmen with a billboard reading: “If you’re going to do it, shoot straight!”
Family members of the executed expressed disbelief.
Randy Gardner, brother of Ronnie Lee Gardner, questioned the accuracy of trained personnel from a short distance: “It’s just disgusting.
How from 20ft away could anybody miss a target pinned on my brother’s heart?
These are skilled marksmen certified for this stuff, I don’t get how they could have missed.”
Further controversy arose during a 2025 execution in South Carolina involving inmate Mikal Mahdi.
Pathologist Dr. Jonathan Arden evaluated the entry wounds and disputed the state's official explanation, calling the deviation “extraordinarily uncommon.”
He concluded, “The shooters missed the intended target area,” resulting in “excruciating conscious pain and suffering.”
Defense attorneys argued that the outcomes contradicted official assertions.
Federal Public Defender Gerald King noted that the medical evidence was clear: “This did not go as the state said it would.”
Legal filings submitted to the US Supreme Court by another inmate's team alleged deliberate misconduct.
Attorneys representing Stephen Stanko claimed the marksmen intentionally avoided the primary target, causing “the most extreme pain a human can experience until his death.”
Counsel involved in the Supreme Court filings described the mathematical improbability of the miss.
Joseph Perkovich stated that the trajectory indicated deliberate intent: “they missed entirely the left ventricle, and only glancingly struck the right ventricle.
For three marksmen to miss their target 15ft away is effectively impossible – so that leaves us with something very bleak, and that is the intent.”
Dr. Groner revisited the South Carolina case in an upcoming book, raising concerns regarding racial bias.
He questioned the motivations of corrections staff, writing, “Would corrections officers in a southern state intentionally torture a Black man who murdered a police officer?
The historical record suggests this is far from out of the question.”
State authorities firmly rejected the allegations of intentional malpractice. A South Carolina Department of Corrections spokesperson said, “South Carolina categorically denies this purely speculative accusation.”
Legal scholars remain divided on the resurgence of the firing squad across multiple jurisdictions. Professor Deborah Denno previously viewed the protocol as the “least inhumane readily-available method.”
She noted that human elements and emotional responses complicate implementation: “We tend to forget that human beings are conducting this, and human beings have emotions and feelings.
Such as wanting to set things right, an eye for an eye, and revenge.”
