Trump signed an executive order on capital punishment for serious crimes in the District of Columbia
US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order allowing the death penalty for particularly serious crimes in the District of Columbia. The document is published on the official website of the White House.
“The death penalty is an important component of the justice system that prevents and punishes the most serious crimes, often accompanied by brutal and deadly violence against innocent Americans,” the text of the decree reads.
The document emphasizes that reinstating the death penalty has been one of the administration’s priorities since its inception. This is recorded in Decree 14164 of January 20, 2025, which concerns the protection of public safety.
It also states that the Attorney General and the District of Columbia federal prosecutor are required to enforce federal death penalty regulations. They should demand the imposition of such a punishment in all cases where, after a detailed examination of the evidence and additional materials, circumstances justifying the imposition of the death sentence will be revealed.
The US Attorney General Pamela Bondi strongly opposed the abolition of death sentences the day before. She criticized the actions of previous President Joe Biden, who pardoned 37 inmates, some of whom were transferred to a maximum security prison in the state of Colorado. After signing the order, Bondi said that the Department of Justice will seek to expand the use of the death penalty throughout the country, not just in Washington.
Recall that the US Supreme Court abolished the death penalty in the District of Columbia back in 1972, and the District Council officially upheld its ban in 1981. Despite this, the death penalty remains in force in 27 US states. According to data by the Death Penalty Information Center, public support for capital punishment for people convicted of serious crimes has been growing in recent years.
