Trump reinstates federal death penalty

US President Donald Trump signed an executive order on the death penalty which directs the attorney general to “take all necessary and lawful actions” to ensure that states have enough lethal injection drugs to carry out executions. Trump’s order, issued just hours after his return to the White House, forces the Justice Department not only to seek the death penalty in appropriate federal cases but also to help preserve capital punishment in states that have had difficulty maintaining adequate supplies of lethal injection drugs.

Trump also directed the attorney general to pursue federal jurisdiction and seek the death penalty “regardless of other factors” when the case involves the murder of an officer of the police or capital crimes “committed by an illegally present alien in this country.” He is also directing the attorney general to seek to overturn Supreme Court precedents that “limit the authority of state and federal governments to impose the death penalty.”

“The government’s most solemn responsibility is to protect its citizens from abominable acts, and my administration will not tolerate attempts to obstruct and eviscerate laws authorizing the death penalty for those who commit horrific acts of violence against American citizens.” , Trump’s order reads.