What is the federal death penalty?
The federal death penalty is a sentencing option for crimes prosecuted under federal law, such as terrorism, espionage, large-scale drug trafficking offenses, and certain murders involving federal officials or interstate elements. It operates separately from state capital punishment systems, meaning a person can face federal execution even in a state that has abolished the death penalty.
How did we get here?
The U.S. Supreme Court effectively halted capital punishment in Furman v. Georgia (1972), ruling that existing death penalty laws were applied arbitrarily. Executions resumed at the state level after Gregg v. Georgia (1976). At the federal level, the Federal Death Penalty Act of 1994, signed by President Bill Clinton, expanded the list of federal capital offenses to roughly 60 crimes and established procedures for federal capital trials.
Recent federal practice
For nearly two decades, the federal government did not carry out any executions. That changed in July 2020, when the Trump administration resumed federal executions after a Justice Department review of lethal injection protocols. Thirteen people were executed between July 2020 and January 2021, the most under any single administration in more than a century. In July 2021, Attorney General Merrick Garland imposed a moratorium on federal executions pending further review of protocols and procedures.
The case for keeping it
Supporters argue that the death penalty provides a proportionate punishment for the most heinous federal crimes, including terrorism, mass shootings, and the murder of children or law enforcement officers. They contend it can serve as a deterrent, offer a sense of justice to victims' families, and give prosecutors leverage in plea negotiations. Some also argue that juries, not blanket policy, should decide whether execution is warranted in individual cases.
The case for abolishing it
Critics point to the risk of executing innocent people. A 2014 study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences estimated that roughly 4% of those sentenced to death in the United States are likely innocent. Opponents also cite racial and geographic disparities in who is sentenced to death, the high cost of capital trials and appeals compared to life imprisonment, and questions about whether the death penalty meaningfully deters crime. Some religious and human rights groups oppose capital punishment on moral grounds.
Where the public and states stand
As of 2024, 27 states authorize capital punishment and 23 have abolished it, with several additional governors imposing executive moratoriums. Gallup polling shows national support for the death penalty for murder at about 53%, down from a peak of 80% in 1994. Support tends to be higher among Republicans and lower among Democrats, though majorities and minorities exist in both parties depending on how the question is framed.
What abolition would mean
Fully abolishing the federal death penalty would require an act of Congress amending the relevant statutes; a president alone cannot repeal it, though the executive branch can decline to seek or carry out executions. Short of abolition, options include narrowing the list of eligible crimes, commuting existing federal death sentences to life imprisonment, or maintaining the current moratorium. Voters weighing this question are essentially deciding whether execution should remain available as a federal sentencing tool at all.