Death penalty reintroduced in USA after 16 years

The US government is set to reintroduce the death penalty. 

According to the justice department, five inmates who are currently on death-row will be killed between December 2019 and January 2020.

It comes after a 16-year-hiatus which saw the death penalty suspended. 

The five inmates have been convicted of murders or rapes of children or senior citizens. 

In a statement, Attorney General William Barr said “we owe it to the victims and their families to carry forward the sentence imposed by our justice system."