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Justice Dept. will execute inmates for first time since 2003

FILE - In this July 8, 2019 file photo, Attorney General William Barr speaks during a tour of a federal prison in Edgefield, S.C. The Justice Department says it will carry out executions of federal death row inmates for the first time since 2003. The announcement Thursday says five inmates will be executed starting in December. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)
FILE - In this July 8, 2019 file photo, Attorney General William Barr speaks during a tour of a federal prison in Edgefield, S.C. The Justice Department says it will carry out executions of federal death row inmates for the first time since 2003. The announcement Thursday says five inmates will be executed starting in December. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department says it will carry out executions of federal death row inmates for the first time since 2003.

The department says five inmates will be executed, starting in December.

In 2014, President Barack Obama directed the department to conduct a review of capital punishment and issues surrounding lethal injection drugs. That review resulted in what effectively was a freeze on executions.

The department says the Bureau of Prisons has completed the review and the executions can continue.

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