In addition to the death penalty laws in many states, the federal government has also employed capital punishment for certain federal offenses, such as murder of a government official, kidnapping resulting in death, running a large-scale drug enterprise, and treason. When the Supreme Court struck down state death penalty statutes in Furman v. Georgia, the federal death penalty statutes suffered from the same problems that the state statutes did. As a result, death sentences under the old federal death penalty statutes have not been upheld.
Continue on to learn more about capital punishment at the federal level.
In 1988, a new federal death penalty statute was enacted for murder in the course of a drug-kingpin conspiracy. The statute was modeled on the post-Gregg statutes that the Supreme Court had approved. Since its enactment, six people have been sentenced to death for violating this law, though none has been executed.
In 1994, President Clinton signed the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act that expanded the federal death penalty to sixty crimes, three of which do not involve murder. The exceptions are espionage, treason, and drug trafficking in large amounts.
Two years later, in response to the Oklahoma City bombing of a federal building, President Clinton signed the Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996. The Act, which affects both state and federal prisoners, restricts review in federal courts by establishing stricter filing deadlines, limiting the opportunity for evidentiary hearings, and ordinarily allowing only a single habeas corpus filing in federal court.
Proponents of the death penalty argue that this streamlining will speed up the death penalty process and significantly reduce its cost. Others fear that quicker, more limited federal review may increase the risk of executing innocent defendants.
When he was executed on June 11, 2001, Timothy McVeigh became the first federal prisoner executed in 38 years. McVeigh was executed by lethal injection at the U.S. Penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana, for the April 19, 1995, Oklahoma City bombing. Before McVeigh, the most famous U.S. execution was Ethel and Julius Rosenberg, who spied for the Soviet Union and were executed in 1953.
Although the Supreme Court has upheld the constitutionality of the death penalty, there have been more recent efforts to restrict its use at the state and federal levels. For example, the Supreme Court in 2002 prohibited the death penalty for mentally challenged criminals and in 2008 ruled that it could not be used in state cases wherein the defendant did not commit murder.
Many states have also enacted restrictions on the death penalty or at least slowed their pace of executions, with a handful abolishing it altogether in favor of life sentences.
With only temporary exceptions, the death penalty has existed in America since the Colonial Period. The more interesting question is why. Proponents believe that individuals who commit heinous acts against others and rob them of their lives have forfeited their own right to live. Many also believe it's important for the victims of violent murders and other serious crimes to have "closure" through an execution.
One of the main arguments in favor of capital punishment is that it deters crime. However, statistics arguably show that capital punishment is not a deterrent in states that use it.
While these philosophical questions may exist, the statistics of U.S. executions show:
If you have a loved one being investigated or charged with any crime, the case may feel like a capital case to you until it's resolved amicably. But if you've been specifically charged with a capital offense, you'll want an experienced attorney immediately. Fortunately, you can contact a skilled criminal defense attorney near you who can help fight the charges and craft the best defense for your particular situation.
