The President of the United States signed an executive order restoring the application of the death penalty to capital crimes committed by undocumented immigrants and the murder of law enforcement officers.
The measure entitled “Restoring the Death Penalty and Protecting Public Safety" was signed by Donald Trump on January 20, 2025.
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What are capital crimes?
In the United States, crimes punishable by death by the federal government are called capital crimes.
These include:
- Murder: Murder is a federal capital crime in many jurisdictions.
- Treason: Treason is a capital crime under federal law.
- Espionage: Espionage is a capital crime under federal law.
- Large-scale drug trafficking: Large-scale drug trafficking is a capital offense under federal law.
Although these crimes are eligible for the death penalty, no one has been executed for a crime other than murder since the death penalty was legalized in 1976.
This new executive order has generated concern by leaving open the possibility that people without legal status could face the death penalty for crimes other than murder.
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What the executive order says verbatim about immigrants:
“In addition to seeking the death penalty whenever possible, the Attorney General shall, whenever consistent with applicable law, pursue federal jurisdiction and seek the death penalty, regardless of other factors, for each federal capital crime involving:
(i) The murder of a law enforcement officer; or
(ii) A capital crime committed by an alien illegally present in this country.
The Attorney General shall encourage state attorneys general and district attorneys to pursue state capital charges for all capital crimes, paying particular attention to the crimes described in subparagraphs (i) and (ii), regardless of whether the federal prosecution results in a capital sentence.”
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What other changes does the order introduce?
- Review of commuted sentences:
The attorney general will also conduct a review of death sentences commuted by the Biden administration. The former president spared the lives of 37 of the 40 prisoners on federal death row.
The conditions of these criminals' imprisonment will be assessed to ensure they are held in "conditions consistent with the monstrosity of their crimes and the threats they pose."
It also seeks consideration of whether they should be tried again at the state level for capital crimes. This could lead to new death sentences at the local level.
- Support for states to carry out the death penalty:
The order also ensures that states that still allow the death penalty have an adequate supply of drugs for executions.
Currently there 27 states that legalized the death penaltyIncluding North Carolina.
- Efforts to overturn restrictive Supreme Court precedents :
Directs the Attorney General to seek to overturn Supreme Court precedents restricting the application of the death penalty.
This includes challenging court rulings that impose legal limits on executions at both the state and federal levels.
The aim is to restore greater discretion to the authorities and the judiciary when imposing death sentences.
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