D.C. votes to restore death penalty after 45 years of abolition
H.R. 10098 — Restoring the Death Penalty in DC Act · Filed by Nancy Mace (R-SC) · Introduced Aug 13, 2026 · Referred to committee
Your members of Congress
Enter a ZIP to see where your representative and both senators stood on this bill.
Looked up on this device — your ZIP is never stored on our servers.
What it does
This bill restores capital punishment in Washington, D.C. by creating a new death penalty statute for eight categories of crimes: first-degree murder, murder of law enforcement officers, solicitation of murder, first-degree child sexual abuse, terrorism, weapons of mass destruction, and drug distribution to minors resulting in death. The bill establishes a two-stage sentencing process: prosecutors must file notice of intent to seek death before trial, and if the defendant is convicted, a separate hearing determines whether aggravating factors (such as prior violence, heinous conduct, or victim vulnerability) outweigh mitigating factors (such as mental illness or minor participation). The default method of execution is electrocution, with the condemned person allowed to elect lethal injection, firing squad, lethal gas, or nitrogen hypoxia up to 14 days before execution.
Why we flagged it
The bill's sole operative purpose is to reinstate and codify capital punishment in D.C. after decades of abolition. It is a straightforward criminal-law expansion, not a hidden rider or deceptive measure—the title and text align directly.
What the text implies
- Electrocution as the default execution method carries documented risks of severe pain, disfigurement, and malfunction; the bill does not require testing or validation of the method before use.
- The bill does not address or study documented racial and socioeconomic disparities in capital sentencing; D.C.'s criminal justice system may inherit or amplify these disparities under the new statute.
The full analysis lists 5 implications of this text.
Who it affects
The bill expands state power to impose the ultimate irreversible punishment on citizens, with no corresponding expansion of procedural protections beyond what federal law already requires. While the bill includes mitigating-factor consideration and appellate review, it lowers the bar for execution eligibility (e.g., drug distribution to minors resulting in death, terrorism) and creates execution methods (electrocution as default) that carry documented risks of severe pain and malfunction.