How Merrick Garland stymied one of Donald Trump’s day one executive orders before leaving office

Sally Kohn : President Trump ordered Department of Justice to seek death penalty for heinous crimes against humanity.

She says it will be harder for Trump to turn death sentences into executions than it was at start of his first term.

Former Attorney General Merrick Garland rescinded the federal government’s death penalty protocol, she says.

It's a bold parting gift to abolitionists by an attorney general who was often the target of criticism for his seeming ambivalence about capital punishment.

John Sutter : Justice Department review of pentobarbital executions was thorough.

He says FDA has not reviewed or approved use of drug in high doses or for purpose of causing death.

Sutter says it's a clear win for abolitionists in struggles to keep Trump from getting federal death penalty moving again.