Trump’s executive order resumes executions, including against immigrants who commit capital crimes : NPR

President Trump has said he plans to resume executions of federal death row inmates and force new executions in future cases, particularly against undocumented immigrants in the United States. Those who commit major crimes.

The reintroduction of the death penalty, announced by an executive order signed on his first day in office, comes as former President Biden and his Justice Department move to limit the federal death penalty. In the final weeks of his presidency, Biden changed Of the 40 death row inmates, 37 were sentenced to death.

Trump’s Order Calls on the U.S. Attorney General to seek the death penalty in future cases “for all serious crimes requiring its use.” In two situations — when law enforcement officers are victims of murder and when capital defendants are immigrants without legal status in the country — the government will seek the death penalty “regardless of other factors.”

The decree allows for the possibility that people without legal status may be executed for crimes other than murder. Although federal crimes such as espionage and treason are already punishable by death, no one has been executed in the United States for a crime other than murder since the death penalty was made constitutional in 1976.

The Justice Department will also seek to overturn Supreme Court precedents that limit state and federal authority to carry out executions, the order said. It turns out that Trump rejected Biden’s changes.

“These efforts to abolish and weaken the death penalty violate our nation’s laws, make a mockery of justice, and insult the victims of these horrific crimes,” the order said. The order specified that the Trump administration would seek to ensure that the 37 death row inmates whose sentences were commuted would be held in harsher conditions, “regarding the seriousness of their crimes.” according to”.

Experts say the provision is one of several that could potentially be subject to legal challenges.

“The Eighth Amendment prevents cruel and unusual punishment,” said Robin Maher, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, a nonprofit organization that researches and publishes facts about the death penalty. “There are certain limitations under both the Constitution and international standards that prohibit keeping people in torture situations.”

Other aspects of the order may not be easily enforced.

Maher added, “I think we can read this executive order as a wish list, as a directive to his attorney general about the priorities that he or she should set as he or she takes office. ” “But there’s going to be a lot of resistance to a lot of these efforts. And again, they conflict with well-settled law and procedure, so I don’t think any of them are going to be easy to do. “

Trump’s support for the death penalty is nothing new. Since the death penalty was declared constitutional by the Supreme Court in 1976, the federal government has executed 16 inmates with overdoses of the sedative pentobarbital. All but three of these inmates were executed under the first Trump administration.

The Biden administration took a more critical stance on the death penalty. Former Attorney General Merrick Garland on January 15 Directed The Federal Bureau of Prisons should rescind its lethal injection protocol and stop using pentobarbital for executions. A three-year Justice Department review concluded that there was “significant uncertainty” about whether the drug use was humane.

“In the face of such uncertainty, the department must err on the side of humanely treating people and avoiding unnecessary pain and suffering,” Garland said.

In its review, the Department of Justice cited the 2024 NPR. Investigation It revealed how a compounding pharmacy in Texas secretly manufactured pentobarbital for state sentences. The review also cited an NPR. Investigation from 2020 which found evidence of pulmonary edema, which occurs when the lungs fill with fluid, in autopsies of executed prisoners.

Trump’s presidential move did not specify whether the federal government would continue to use pentobarbital against the previous administration’s recommendation, but he announced that the Justice Department would help states obtain the drug for lethal injection.

Trump nominated former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi to serve as US Attorney General and lead the agency. The Senate Judiciary Committee will review his nomination on Wednesday. As the confirmation process continues, immigration attorney James McHenry will serve as acting attorney general.