Attorney General Merrick Garland ordered a halt to federal executions while the Justice Department reviews its policies on the death penalty, citing concerns about what he described as arbitrariness in its application, its disparate impact on Black people and minorities and a “troubling number of exonerations.” The stance marks a reversal from the Trump administration, which reactivated the federal death chamber after a nearly 20-year hiatus, putting 13 inmates to death in its final months. |