Federal Death Penalty Abolition Act

The Federal Death Penalty Abolition Act is a proposed United States law 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 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 movement, the George Floyd protests, and the thirteen people executed during the Trump administration between July 2020 and January 2021, among other things. 46th president Joe Biden's campaign website has stated that he 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, despite previous support as a U.S. Senator from Delaware.
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 January 5, 2024:

Congress	Short title	Bill number	Date introduced	Sponsor	# of cosponsors	Latest status
106th Congress	Federal Death Penalty Abolition Act of 1999		November 10, 1999	Russell Feingold	1	Died in Committee.
107th congress	Federal Death Penalty Abolition Act of 2001		January 25, 2001	Russell Feingold	1	Died in Committee.
108th Congress	Federal Death Penalty Abolition Act of 2003		June 24, 2003	Dennis Kucinich	46	Died in Committee.
108th Congress	Federal Death Penalty Abolition Act of 2003		February 13, 2003	Russell Feingold	0	Died in Committee.
109th Congress	Federal Death Penalty Abolition Act		March 9, 2006	Dennis Kucinich	45	Died in Committee.
109th Congress	Federal Death Penalty Abolition Act of 2005		January 24, 2005	Russell Feingold	0	Died in Committee.
110th Congress	Federal Death Penalty Abolition Act of 2008		September 11, 2008	Dennis Kucinich	19	Died in Committee.
110th Congress	Federal Death Penalty Abolition Act of 2007		January 31, 2007	Russell Feingold	0	Died in Committee.
111th Congress	Federal Death Penalty Abolition Act of 2009		March 19, 2009	Russell Feingold	0	Died in Committee.
112th Congress	Federal Death Penalty Abolition Act of 2011		September 23, 2011	Dennis Kucinich	15	Died in Committee.
113th Congress	Federal Death Penalty Abolition Act of 2013		December 12, 2013	Donna Edwards	13	Died in Committee.
116th Congress	Federal Death Penalty Abolition Act of 2019		July 25, 2019	Adriano Espaillat	67	Died in Committee.
117th Congress	Federal Death Penalty Abolition Act of 2021		January 4, 2021	Adriano Espaillat	85	Died in Committee.
117th Congress	Federal Death Penalty Prohibition Act		January 11, 2021	Ayanna Pressley	79	Died in Committee.
117th Congress	Federal Death Penalty Prohibition Act		March 3, 2021	Richard Durbin	20	Died in Committee.
118th Congress	Federal Death Penalty Abolition Act of 2023		February 21, 2023	Adriano Espaillat	27	Referred to Committees of Jurisdiction