RL34163
The Death Penalty: Capital Punishment Legislation in the 110th Congress
September 07, 2007

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Summary

Most capital offenses are state crimes. In 1994, however, Congress revived the death penalty as a federal sentencing option. More than a few federal statutes now proscribe offenses punishable by death. A number of bills have been offered during the 110th Congress to modify federal law in the area. One, S. 447 (Sen. Feingold), would abolish the federal death penalty. Others would increase the number of capital offenses to include one or more newly created offenses or existing non-capital offenses newly designated as capital offenses, e.g., H.R. 855 (Rep. Lungren), H.R. 880 (Rep. Forbes), H.R. 1118 (Rep. Keller), H.R. 1645 (Rep. Gutierrez), H.R. 2376 (Rep. Franks), H.R. 3147 (Rep. Wilson), H.R. 3150 (Rep. Keller), H.R. 3156 (Rep. Lamar Smith), S. 330 (Sen. Isakson), S. 607 (Sen. Vitter), S. 1320 (Sen. Kyl), S. 1348 (Sen. Reid), and S. 1860 (Sen. Cornyn). Numbered among the new capital offenses and newly designated capital offenses are murder related to street gang offenses or Travel Act violations, murder committed during and in relation to drug trafficking, murder committed in the course of evading border inspection, murder of disaster assistance workers, and various terrorism-related murders. A third category of proposals would adjust in one way or another the procedures used to try and sentence capital defendants, including those relating to where a capital offense may be tried, the appointment of counsel in capital cases, the pre-trial notification which the parties must exchange in capital cases, the procedures that apply when the defendant claims to be mentally retarded, adjustments in the statutory aggravating and mitigating circumstances, jury matters, and the site of federal executions. Among the bills offering one or more of these proposals are: H.R. 851 (Rep. Gohmert), H.R. 880 (Rep. Forbes), H.R. 1645 (Rep. Gutierrez), H.R. 1914 (Rep. Carter), H.R. 3150 (Rep. Keller), H.R. 3153 (Rep. Gerlach), H.R. 3156 (Rep. Lamar Smith), S. 1320 (Sen. Kyl), and S. 1860 (Sen. Cornyn). An abridged version of this report ? without footnotes, appendices, and most citations, is available as CRS Report RS22719, Capital Punishment Legislation in the 110th Congress: A Sketch, by Charles Doyle.

    Related Legislation:
  • S.447
  • H.R.855
  • H.R.880
  • H.R.1118
  • H.R.1645
  • H.R.2376
  • H.R.3147
  • H.R.3150
  • H.R.3156
  • S.330
  • S.607
  • S.1320
  • S.1348
  • S.1860
  • H.R.851
  • H.R.1914
  • H.R.3153
  • S.2271

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