Despite efforts by U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft to broad­en the use of the fed­er­al death penal­ty, less than a third of the fed­er­al death penal­ty tri­als since 2001 have result­ed in a death sen­tence. Of the 34 fed­er­al cap­i­tal cas­es Ashcroft autho­rized, 23 did not result in the death penal­ty. Critics say that this poor record sug­gests wan­ing pub­lic enthu­si­asm for exe­cu­tions and that juries and judges see through what many believe to be weak cas­es for the fed­er­al death penal­ty.

Ashcroft, who claims that broad­er use of the fed­er­al death penal­ty will rem­e­dy the doc­u­ment­ed geo­graph­ic dis­par­i­ties in fed­er­al cap­i­tal sen­tenc­ing, is a long-time sup­port­er of cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment. He has pushed fed­er­al pros­e­cu­tors around the coun­try to go against their own objec­tions and be more aggres­sive in iden­ti­fy­ing cas­es that could qual­i­fy as cap­i­tal. Much of that effort has been focused on states that have banned or rarely impose cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment. In some instances, the Justice Department chief has over­rid­den local fed­er­al pros­e­cu­tor’s plea bar­gain agree­ments. In pri­or admin­is­tra­tions, fed­er­al pros­e­cu­tors were giv­en the free­dom to deter­mine the use­ful­ness of such plea bar­gains with­out over­sight, but a new pol­i­cy put into place by Ashcroft ensures that all fed­er­al pros­e­cu­tor deci­sions are now reviewed in Washington. Under Ashcroft’s admin­is­tra­tion, 65 defen­dants are fac­ing cap­i­tal tri­als, com­pared with a high of 39 under for­mer Attorney General Janey Reno. (Los Angeles Times, September 29, 2004). See Federal Death Penalty.

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