The Federal Death Penalty Abolition Act is a proposed

United States law The law of the United States comprises many levels of codified and uncodified forms of law, of which the most important is the nation's Constitution, which prescribes the foundation of the federal government of the United States, as well as va ...

that would abolish the death penalty for all federal crimes and all military crimes. If enacted, this act would mark the first time since 1988 where no federal crimes carry a sentence of death. This bill would repeal capital punishment on the federal level but would not affect the possibility for states to provide for it in state law.

History

Since the enactment of the

Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988 The Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988 (, ) is a major law of the War on Drugs passed by the U.S. Congress which did several significant things: # Created the policy goal of a drug-free America; # Established the Office of National Drug Control Policy; ...

, the death penalty has been a legal punishment for United States federal crimes in the post '' Furman'' era. Since then, the federal government has executed sixteen individuals, with thirteen of those executions occurring between July 2020 and January 2021. Motivation for the introduction and support for the passage and enactment of this bill have been influenced by the

criminal justice reform Criminal justice reform addresses structural issues in criminal justice systems such as racial profiling, police brutality, overcriminalization, mass incarceration, and recidivism. Criminal justice reform can take place at any point where the crim ...

movement, the

George Floyd protests The George Floyd protests were a series of protests and civil unrest against police brutality and racism that began in Minneapolis on May 26, 2020, and largely took place during 2020. The civil unrest and protests began as part of internatio ...

, and the thirteen people executed during the

Trump administration Donald Trump's tenure as the 45th president of the United States began with his inauguration on January 20, 2017, and ended on January 20, 2021. Trump, a Republican from New York City, took office following his Electoral College victory ...

between July 2020 and January 2021, among other things. President Joe Biden’s campaign website has stated that Biden supports abolishing the death penalty on the federal level and to incentivize states to also abolish the death penalty for crimes within their jurisdiction. Biden is the first president to openly oppose the death penalty. Bills to abolish the federal death penalty have been introduced in each Congress since 1999, but no legislation has passed.

Provisions

The bill proposes the removal of all references to capital punishment as it pertains to federal crimes and sentencing law, abolishing the ability for the United States to impose a sentence of death in the process.

Legislative history

As of May 15, 2022: {, class="wikitable" !Congress !Short title !Bill number(s) !Date introduced !Sponsor(s) !# of cosponsors !Latest status , - , 106th Congress , Federal Death Penalty Abolition Act of 1999 , , November 10, 1999 ,

Russell Feingold Russell Dana Feingold ( ; born March 2, 1953) is an American lawyer and politician who served as a United States Senator from Wisconsin from 1993 to 2011. A member of the Democratic Party, he was its nominee in the 2016 election for the same U.S ...

(D-WI) , 1 , Died in Committee. , - , 107th congress , Federal Death Penalty Abolition Act of 2001 , , January 25, 2001 ,

(D-WI) , 1 , Died in Committee. , - , rowspan="2" ,

108th Congress The 108th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives from January 3, 2003 to January 3, 2005, during ...

, Federal Death Penalty Abolition Act of 2003 , , June 24, 2003 ,

Dennis Kucinich Dennis John Kucinich (; born October 8, 1946) is an American politician. A U.S. Representative from Ohio from 1997 to 2013, he was also a candidate for the Democratic nomination for president of the United States in 2004 and 2008. He ran for ...

(D-OH) , 46 , Died in Committee. , - , Federal Death Penalty Abolition Act of 2003 , , February 13, 2003 ,

(D-WI) , 0 , Died in Committee. , - , rowspan="2" ,

109th Congress The 109th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives, from January 3, 2005 to January 3, 2007, dur ...

, Federal Death Penalty Abolition Act , , March 9, 2006 ,

(D-OH) , 45 , Died in Committee. , - , Federal Death Penalty Abolition Act of 2005 , , January 24, 2005 ,

(D-WI) , 0 , Died in Committee. , - , rowspan="2" ,

110th Congress The 110th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, between January 3, 2007, and January 3, 2009, during the last two years of the Presidency of George W. Bush. It was composed of ...

, Federal Death Penalty Abolition Act of 2008 , , September 11, 2008 ,

(D-OH) , 19 , Died in Committee. , - , Federal Death Penalty Abolition Act of 2007 , , January 31, 2007 ,

(D-WI) , 0 , Died in Committee. , - ,

111th Congress The 111th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government from January 3, 2009, until January 3, 2011. It began during the last weeks of the George W. Bush administration, with th ...

, Federal Death Penalty Abolition Act of 2009 , , March 19, 2009 ,

(D-WI) , 0 , Died in Committee. , - ,

112th Congress The 112th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, from January 3, 2011, until January 3, 2013. It convened in Washington, D.C. on January 3, 2011, and ended on January 3, 2013, 1 ...

, Federal Death Penalty Abolition Act of 2011 , , September 23, 2011 ,

(D-OH) , 15 , Died in Committee. , - ,

113th Congress The 113th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, from January 3, 2013, to January 3, 2015, during the fifth and sixth years of Barack Obama's presidency. It was composed of the ...

, Federal Death Penalty Abolition Act of 2013 , , December 12, 2013 ,

Donna Edwards Donna Fern Edwards (born June 28, 1958) is an American politician who served as the U.S. representative for from 2008 to 2017. The district included most of Prince George's County, as well as part of Anne Arundel County. She is a member of the ...

(D-MD) , 13 , Died in Committee. , - ,

116th Congress The 116th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the Senate and the House of Representatives. It convened in Washington, D.C., on January 3, 2019, and ended on Januar ...

, Federal Death Penalty Abolition Act of 2019 , , July 25, 2019 , Adriano Espaillat (D-NY) , 67 , Died in Committee. , - , rowspan="3" ,

117th Congress The 117th United States Congress is the current meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It convened in Washington, D.C., on ...

, Federal Death Penalty Abolition Act of 2021 , , January 4, 2021 , Adriano Espaillat (D-NY) , 85 , Referred to Committees of Jurisdiction , - , Federal Death Penalty Prohibition Act , , January 11, 2021 ,

Ayanna Pressley Ayanna Soyini Pressley (born February 3, 1974) is an American politician who has served as the U.S. representative for Massachusetts's 7th congressional district since 2019. This district includes the northern three quarters of Boston, most of Ca ...

(D-MA) , 79 , Referred to Committees of Jurisdiction , - , Federal Death Penalty Prohibition Act , {{USBill, 117, s, 582 , March 3, 2021 , Richard Durbin (D-IL) , 20 , Referred to Committees of Jurisdiction

References

Proposed legislation of the 117th United States Congress United States federal criminal legislation Capital punishment in the United States Anti–death penalty laws

History

Provisions

Legislative history

See also

References