Capital punishment by the United States federal government
As a result of the Supreme Court opinion in Furman v. Georgia in 1972, the federal death penalty was suspended from law until its reinstatement by Congress in 1988.
On July 1, 2021, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland placed a moratorium on all federal executions pending review of policy and procedures.
[2] On February 5, 2025, Attorney General Pam Bondi lifted the moratorium[3] and directed the Justice Department to take steps to strengthen the death penalty, consistent with an executive order[4] signed by the newly re-inaugurated President Trump on January 20.
[13] The Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988 restored the death penalty under federal law for drug offenses and some types of murder.
[14] President Bill Clinton signed the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act, expanding the federal death penalty in 1994.
[18] On July 25, 2019, U.S. Attorney General William Barr announced that the federal government would resume executions using pentobarbital, rather than the three-drug cocktail previously used.
[19] The Bureau of Prisons' acting director then scheduled 5 convicted death row inmates to be executed in December 2019 and January 2020.
Justices Alito, Gorsuch, and Kavanaugh wrote that they believed the government would ultimately win the case and that they would have set a 60-day deadline for the court of appeals to finalize it.
[21] In January 2020, the Justice Department argued to the appeals court that when Congress declared that federal executions must be carried out "in the manner prescribed by the state" where inmates were convicted, it was referring to the general method of execution allowed in states, such as lethal injection, rather than the specific drugs to be used.
[30] Federal Medical Center, Carswell (FMC Carswell), located at Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth just west of Fort Worth, Texas, has previously housed women who were on federal death row.
In the federal system, the final decision to seek the death penalty rests with the United States Attorney General.
[36] In case of a hung jury during the penalty phase of the trial, a life sentence is issued, even if a single juror opposed death (there is no retrial).
The method of execution of federal prisoners for offenses under the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 is that of the state in which the conviction took place.
[39] The federal government has a facility and regulations only for executions by lethal injection, but the United States Code allows U.S.
Charles Guiteau's trial was held in a civilian court of the District of Columbia where the assassination of James Garfield happened.
[45]: 7–9 In a military commission trial, the death penalty may only be imposed in case of a unanimous verdict and sentencing decision.
