State & Federal
District of Columbia
Notable Cases
The first recorded execution in Washington, D.C. was the hanging of James McGirk in 1802.
Mary Surratt, the only woman executed in D.C., was hanged by the U.S. military in 1865 for conspiring to assassinate President Abraham Lincoln.
Charles Guiteau was executed in 1882 for assassinating President Garfield.
The District of Columbia has not had an execution since Robert Carter in 1957. Carter was convicted of fatally shooting an off-duty police officer who pursued him after Carter robbed a dry cleaners. The jury in the case recommended mercy for Carter, but the law at the time mandated a death sentence for a conviction of first-degree murder.
Milestones in Abolition/Reinstatement
The District’s death penalty was nullified by the Supreme Court decision in Furman v. Georgia in 1972 and repealed by the D.C. Council in 1981. District residents voted 2 – 1 against the death penalty in a 1992 referendum ordered by Congress. Prior to the referendum, the D.C. Council passed legislation allowing for a sentencing option of life without parole for first-degree murder. Lawmakers touted the legislation as an alternative to the reinstatement of the death penalty.
In 1997, the D.C. Council’s Judiciary Committee rejected a bill to permit capital punishment for the murder of public safety employees. The bill was proposed by then-Mayor Marion Barry.
Other Interesting Facts
For most of its history, Washington, D.C. was governed by federal statutes. Although D.C. now has its own code of laws, it is still subject to Congressional oversight. The federal government has sought the death penalty in murder cases that occurred in D.C.
Hanging and electrocution are the only methods of execution that have been used in the District of Columbia.
Washington Monument with Cherry Blossoms. Photo by Anne Holsinger.
Resources
- Department of Corrections
- National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty (located in Washington, D.C.)
- Amnesty International (located in Washington, D.C.)
- ACLU of the Nation’s Capital
- Prosecutors
- Public defender’s office
- Victims’ services
News & Developments
News
Oct 25, 2013
Upcoming Events to Review Death Penalty Practice
Two events in November will examine the application of the death penalty from a variety of perspectives. On November 12, the American Bar Association will host the National Symposium on the Modern Death Penalty at the Carter Center in Atlanta, Georgia. The conference will culminate the ABA’s eight-year effort to asses the death penalty in various states, using criteria for due process established by the ABA. Former President Jimmy Carter will be a…
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Jan 20, 2011
ARBITRARINESS: Contract Killer Spared the Death Penalty Despite Seven Murders
Although the death penalty is often described as being reserved for the “worst of the worst” offenders, in practice defendants responsible for many murders are often spared while those who committed arguably lesser offenses are executed. Oscar Veal was a contract killer for a large drug ring and murder-for-hire operation. He was convicted of seven counts of murder and eight counts of racketeering conspiracy. However, in exchange for testimony about a drug organization in…
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Jan 13, 2011
NEW VOICES: “Police Officials Argue Death Penalty Doesn’t Make Us Safer”
Four law enforcement officials from various countries who came together in Washington, D.C., in 2010 for a groundbreaking international dialogue on the death penalty recently published an op-ed in the San Jose Mercury News regarding their discussion. From their experience, they discounted the argument that the death penalty deters potential…
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