Overview
The federal death penalty applies in all 50 states and U.S. territories but is used relatively rarely. About 41 prisoners are on the federal death row, most of whom are imprisoned in Terre Haute, Indiana. Sixteen federal executions have been carried out in the modern era, all by lethal injection, with 13 occurring in a six-month period between July 2020 and January 2021.
The federal death penalty was held unconstitutional following the Supreme Court’s opinion of Furman v. Georgia in 1972. Unlike the quick restoration of the death penalty in most states, the federal death penalty was not reinstated until 1988, and then only for a very narrow class of offenses. The Federal Death Penalty Act of 1994 greatly expanded the number of eligible offenses to about 60.
The use of the federal death penalty in jurisdictions that have themselves opted not to have capital punishment—such as Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, and many states—has raised particular concerns about federal overreach into state matters.
News & Developments
News
Jul 06, 2021
Department of Justice Formally Pauses Federal Executions to Review Trump Death-Penalty Regulations

In a memorandum that left to Congress the task of addressing systemic questions of arbitrariness, racial discrimination, and wrongful convictions affecting the administration of the federal death penalty, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland (pictured) issued a directive formally pausing federal executions while the Department of Justice (DOJ) undertakes a review of executive branch policies adopted in the last two years of the Trump administration.
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Sep 28, 2023
Guantanamo Bay Judge Rules 9/11 Capital Defendant Mentally Incompetent to Stand Trial
On September 21, 2023, a military judge in Guantanamo Bay ruled that Ramzi Bin al Shibh, one of five defendants in the 9/11 case for whom the death penalty is being sought, is mentally incompetent to stand trial. Mr. Bin al Shibh, who has been detained for 21 years, will remain in custody at Guantanamo as authorities attempt to treat the post-traumatic stress disorder caused when he was forced to undergo “enhanced interrogations” by the U.S. government.
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Sep 07, 2023
9/11 Victims’ Family Members, Members of Congress Urge Biden Administration to Abandon Plea Negotiations with Guantanamo Detainees
Family members of some of the victims of 9/11 have asked the Biden Administration to abandon current plea negotiations with Guantánamo detainees that would remove the possibility of death sentences for the men accused of planning the 9/11 terror attacks. Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and his four co-defendants have been held for more than twenty years, first at CIA black sites where they were subject to “enhanced interrogation techniques” and then at Guantánamo, but none has proceeded to trial. The request came after family members were notified by the Pentagon on August…
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Aug 03, 2023
Jurors Sentence Robert Bowers to Death for 2018 Synagogue Shooting
On August 1, 2023, death-qualified federal jurors unanimously recommended a sentence of death for Robert Bowers, who they had earlier convicted of killing 11 Jewish worshippers at a Pittsburgh synagogue in October 2018. The jury agreed with all five aggravating factors alleged by the prosecution during the penalty phase but rejected defense counsel’s argument that Mr. Bowers’ schizophrenia and delusions meant he should not be sentenced to death. He will be formally sentenced by the court on August 3, 2023. Family members of the victims, some of whom will address…
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Jul 13, 2023
Jury Finds Defendant Eligible for Federal Death Penalty in Pittsburgh Synagogue Trial
The jury that found Richard Bowers guilty of all 63 federal charges he faces in connection with the 2018 Pittsburgh synagogue shooting found him eligible for the death penalty on July 13, 2023. Jurors deliberated for about two hours before finding that the prosecution had met its burden by proving that Mr. Bowers had the necessary intent to commit the crime and that the crime had specific aggravating factors for eligibility. These factors included the vulnerability of several of the victims. Defense counsel presented evidence of Mr. Bowers’ mental health…
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Jun 21, 2023
70 Years After Their Executions, Rosenberg Sons Still Looking to Clear Mother’s Name
Seventy years after the executions of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, their sons, Michael and Robert Meeropol, have renewed their efforts to clear their mother’s name. Just ten and six years old when their parents were executed for federal charges of conspiracy to commit espionage, both men grew up believing in their parents’ innocence. The Rosenbergs remain the only individuals put to death for peacetime espionage in American history.
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May 30, 2023
Victims’ Families are Divided Over Death Penalty as Bowers Trial Begins
On May 25, 2023, 12 death-qualified jurors and six alternates were selected in the federal capital trial of Robert Bowers, who is charged with killing 11 worshippers at a Pittsburgh synagogue in 2018. Prosecutors struck all the Black, Hispanic, and Jewish venire members. As testimony begins on May 30, some victims’ family members have expressed support for capital punishment, while others have objected.
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Apr 12, 2023
EDITORIALS: The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Calls on the Justice Department to ‘Drop the Death Penalty’ in Synagogue Shooting
On April 9, 2023, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette called upon Attorney General Merrick Garland to withdraw the government’s pursuit of the death penalty and accept a plea deal for a mandatory life sentence in the mass shooting at a synagogue in Pittsburgh in 2018. The editors noted that seeking a death sentence: “would, in effect, re-enact the worst case of anti-Semitic violence in U.S. history through witness testimony, media coverage and appeals that could continue for up to 20 years.” The trial is scheduled to begin soon with jury selection on…
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Mar 22, 2023
Federal Government Announces Withdrawal of Intent to Seek Death in North Dakota Case
On March 14, 2023, at the direction of Attorney General Merrick Garland (pictured), the U.S. Attorney for the District of North Dakota withdrew the notice of intent to seek a death sentence for Alfonso Rodriguez, Jr., who had been convicted in 2006 of the 2003 kidnapping and killing of college student Dru Sjodin. Rodriguez had originally been sentenced to death in 2007, but U.S. District Court Judge Ralph Erickson reversed the death sentence because of misleading testimony presented at trial from the coroner and failures of defense counsel to explore…
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Mar 13, 2023
Federal Jury Returns a Life Verdict in New York for Sayfullo Saipov
On March 13, 2023, a jury in the federal death penalty prosecution of Sayfullo Saipov in New York City concluded its deliberations without coming to a unanimous decision regarding sentencing. As a result, Saipov will be sentenced to life in prison without parole. On January 26, the jury had unanimously found the defendant guilty of murdering eight people in 2017 by deliberately ramming a truck onto a crowded Manhattan bike path. Neither Saipov nor his attorneys contested his involvement in the crime.
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Feb 02, 2023
Penalty Phase Scheduled to Begin in Federal Capital Trial of Sayfullo Saipov
Sayfullo Saipov (pictured) was found guilty in federal court on January 26, 2023 of killing eight people on a New York City bike path in 2017 by driving a truck into a crowd of people. He will now likely be the first person to face a federal capital penalty hearing during President Biden’s administration. On February 6, 2023, a jury in Manhattan will begin hearing evidence to determine whether Saipov will be sentenced to death or life without parole. The jury must vote unanimously for a death sentence to result.
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