Sponsor
Nancy Mace
Representative · R-SC
The bill restores and clarifies the District's and federal system's ability to impose and process capital punishment, offering a local sentencing option and procedural clarity while reintroducing the death penalty with significant equity, moral, and fiscal risks.
D.C. residents and local officials: Restores District authority to impose capital punishment under local law, creating a local sentencing option for the most serious crimes.
Federal courts and prosecutors (and the D.C. legal system): Clarifies that federal capital-case procedures referencing 'State' also apply to D.C., reducing procedural ambiguity and simplifying litigation and prosecution in capital cases.
People charged with qualifying crimes in D.C.: Reintroduces the possibility of death sentences for defendants convicted of qualifying offenses in the District.
Racial minorities and low-income defendants in D.C.: Increases the risk that the death penalty will be applied disproportionately, exacerbating existing racial and economic disparities in the justice system.
D.C. taxpayers (and potentially the federal government): Could raise public costs due to lengthy capital trials and prolonged appeals, increasing legal and incarceration spending.
Based on analysis of 4 sections of legislative text.
Authorizes a death-penalty scheme in the District of Columbia and treats D.C. as a “State” for specified federal capital-case statutes.
Representative · R-SC
Reinstates a death-penalty system in the District of Columbia by adding a new chapter to the D.C. Code that authorizes capital punishment for eligible crimes and makes conforming federal and local statutory changes to treat the District like a state for certain capital-case procedures. The change applies only to offenses committed on or after the law's enactment and includes a standard severability clause so remaining provisions survive if part is struck down. The bill also amends federal statutory chapter headings and definitions to explicitly include the District of Columbia when federal capital-procedure chapters refer to “states,” and updates a D.C. code cross-reference to account for newly authorized death sentences.
Official title: To provide for the imposition of the death penalty for certain crimes committed in the District of Columbia, and for other purposes.
Introduced August 13, 2026 by Nancy Mace · Last progress August 13, 2026