The first of two federal inmates scheduled to be executed this week has been put to death. Brandon Bernard’s death marks the ninth federal execution this year. His attorney says his death soils the U.S. criminal justice system. He entered the federal death chamber at the U.S. Penitentiary in Terre Haute on Thursday, despite pleas from activists and protesters. Bernard was convicted of brutally murdering a couple in Texas in 1999. The federal government is on pace to execute the most people in a single year since 1896.
