Federal Death Penalty
Death Penalty Information Center Page: Additional Information on the Federal Death Penalty
Overview
People serving in the military are subject to a separate system of laws, courts, and procedures. Defendants retain certain rights guaranteed under the constitution, such as the right to representation.
The military death penalty has been used sparsely outside times of war. Only a few individuals are on the military death row, which is based at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. All were convicted of murder. There have been no executions in the modern era of the death penalty.
The military also has jurisdiction over military commissions, which are tribunals convened to try people accused of unlawful conduct associated with war, such as those established in Guantánamo Bay after the September 11, 2001 attacks. No one has been sentenced to death under these commissions.
News & Developments
News
Nov 13, 2024
Despite Military Judge’s Approval of 9/11 Plea Deal, Defense Secretary and Prosecutors Continue to Push Back
U.S. military judge Colonel Matthew N. McCall is moving ahead cautiously with scheduling the plea hearings in the case of Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and his codefendants, accused of plotting the September 11 terror attacks. On November 10, 2024, Col. McCall instructed counsel to agree on dates in either December 2024 or early January 2025 to hold plea hearings for Mr. Mohammed and his codefendants, Walid bin Attash and Mustafa al-Hawsawi. Lead prosecutor Clayton G. Trivett, Jr. had asked Col.
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Aug 16, 2024
Articles of Interest: U.S. Senator, Former U.S. Solicitor General and Victim’s Family Member Express Support for 9/11 Plea Deals
Theodore B. Olson, former U.S. Solicitor General from 2001 to 2004, who lost his wife in the September 11th terror attacks, says he felt relief upon hearing the announcement that three of the defendants entered into an agreement to plead guilty in exchange for removal of the death penalty as a sentencing option. However, Mr. Olson writes that his relief was short-lived when within 48 hours of the announcement Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin revoked the plea agreement. Mr. Olson believes this…
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News
Aug 02, 2024
U.S. Military Reaches Plea Agreement to Avoid the Death Penalty with Three Men Accused of Plotting September 11 Attacks
UPDATE: On August 2nd, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin revoked the July 31, 2024 plea agreement reached between military commissions prosecutors and defense counsel for three of the 9/11 defendants being held at Guantanamo. In a two-paragraph memo, Secretary Austin revoked the authority of Susan Escallier, the head of the Military Commissions Convening Authority, to enter into the plea agreements and reserved that authority for himself. This unexpected development negates…
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News
Nov 20, 2023
U.S. Army Overturns the Convictions of 110 Black Soldiers in the 1917 Camp Logan Rebellion to Redress the Unfair Trials that Resulted in the Execution of 19
On November 13, 2023, officials announced that the U.S. Army had overturned the convictions of 110 Black soldiers of the 3rd Battalion, 24th Infantry Regiment, who were charged with mutiny in connection with the racial violence that occurred during the 1917 Camp Logan rebellion. Nineteen Black soldiers were hanged following the court-martial ruling on December 11, 1917, which was the largest execution of military soldiers in history. In her statement, Secretary of the Army Christine Wormuth…
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News
Nov 10, 2023
A Veterans Day Review: Uneven Progress Understanding the Role of Military Service in Capital Crimes
In 2015, DPIC’s Battle Scars report brought worldwide attention to the issue of military veterans on death row. DPIC found approximately 300 veterans incarcerated under a sentence of death, representing at least 10% of death row, and many more who had been executed. Since that report, research and understanding about Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), traumatic brain injury (TBI), substance use disorders, and mental illness among veterans has only grown. A 2023 survey of…
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