Sponsors (18)
The bill ends the federal death penalty—removing a severe, unequally applied punishment and sparing current death-row inmates from execution—while provoking concerns about reduced accountability and imposing short-term costs and delays from resentencings.
Federal defendants: the federal death penalty is eliminated, so people charged with federal crimes can no longer be sentenced to death.
People on federal death row: their federal capital sentences will be vacated and they will be eligible for resentencing, ending the immediate risk of execution for those individuals.
Racial and other vulnerable groups: removing the federal death penalty reduces the risk of unequal or arbitrary application of capital punishment and helps protect civil rights.
Victims' families and law-and-order advocates: removing the federal death penalty eliminates the most severe sentencing option and may be perceived as reducing accountability and deterrence for the most serious crimes.
Victims and their families: vacating sentences and ordering resentencings or new proceedings will increase court workload and delay final resolution, prolonging uncertainty and the closure process for victims.
Taxpayers and the federal judiciary: resentencings, retrials, and additional administrative steps will raise short-term costs for courts, prosecutors, and prisons.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Eliminates the federal death penalty and requires mandatory resentencing for anyone previously sentenced to death under federal law.
Prohibits the federal government from imposing or carrying out the death penalty for any federal offense from the date the law takes effect, and requires mandatory resentencing for anyone previously sentenced to death under federal law. The ban overrides any conflicting law and takes effect on the date of enactment.
Official title: Prohibit the imposition of the death penalty for any violation of Federal law, and for other purposes.
Introduced May 20, 2026 by Richard Joseph Durbin · Last progress May 20, 2026