Death Penalty News

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump removed U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi from her post Thursday, ending a 14-month tenure defined by a sweeping overhaul of the Justice Department and a hard-line approach to federal law enforcement. The president announced the decision on social media, naming Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche as acting attorney general.

The proposal, aligned with President Trump’s executive order, would ease certification requirements and make approvals permanent for qualifying states WASHINGTON — The Department of Justice is proposing a rule aimed at speeding up the federal review process in state death penalty cases — a move officials say could significantly shorten the time between conviction and execution. Attorney General Pamela Bondi announced the proposal on March 17 , describing it as part of a broader effort to streamline capital case proceedings and reduce delays that can stretch on for years.

A federal judge has temporarily blocked the Trump administration from transferring 20 ex-death row inmates, granted clemency by former President Biden, to the most restrictive “supermax” prison in the nation. U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly, an appointee of President Trump, ruled Wednesday that the men were likely to succeed in showing their due process rights were skirted by the administration in its bid to send them to the Administrative Maximum Facility (ADX) in Florence, Colo.

NEW YORK (AP) — Luigi Mangione is due in federal court Friday for a pivotal hearing in his fight to bar the government from seeking the death penalty against him in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. Mangione’s lawyers contend that authorities prejudiced his case by turning his December 2024 arrest into a “Marvel movie” spectacle and by publicly declaring their desire to see him executed even before he was formally indicted.

WASHINGTON (TNND) — Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro was indicted on multiple charges after he was captured and removed from the country early Saturday morning, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi announced. The White House posted on social media of Maduro's walk into the DEA office in New York City, where Maduro arrived Saturday evening. The post captioned "perp walked" shows Maduro walking down the hallway of the DEA's New York Department with his hands cuffed in front of his body, escorted by officers.

A local prosecutor in South Carolina plans to seek the death penalty against a man whose federal death sentence for killing two bank employees was commuted to life in prison by President Joe Biden COLUMBIA, S.C. -- A local prosecutor in South Carolina said Tuesday he will seek the death penalty against a man whose federal death sentence for killing two bank employees in a robbery was commuted to life in prison by President Joe Biden at the end of his term. Brandon Council, 40, did not appear in state court in Horry County as prosecutors formally let the court know that if he is convicted of murder they will ask a jury to sentence him to death.

Donald Trump signs presidential memorandum implementing the death penalty in Washington, D.C. The presidential memorandum calls for his administration to reinstate the death penalty for crimes in Washington, D.C. Attorney General Pam Bondi stated that the administration is working toward implementing the death penalty nationwide. September 25, 2025 Memorandum for the Attorney General and the United States Attorney for the District of Columbia Subject: Enforcing the Death Penalty Laws in the District of Columbia to Deter and Punish the Most Heinous Crimes By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, I hereby direct: Section 1. Background. Federal law provides for the death penalty for criminals found guilty of especially aggravated crimes (18 U.S.C. 3591(a)). Capital punishment is an essential part of how our justice system deters and punishes the most reprehensible crimes that often involve grotesque and lethal violence ag...

NEW YORK – Luigi Mangione’s lawyers urged a federal judge in New York on Sept 20 to block prosecutors from seeking the death penalty for their client, who is charged with killing UnitedHealthcare chief executive officer Brian Thompson. In a court filing, Mangione’s lawyers argued that US Justice Department officials should be precluded from seeking the death penalty because of actions that had violated his due process rights. They said these included “staging a dehumanising, unconstitutional ‘perp walk’ where he was televised, videotaped and photographed clambering out of a helicopter in shackles on his way to his initial appearance”.

States have executed 30 people this year — already the highest annual total in more than a decade. In Joe Biden’s final days as president, he landed a quiet political blow against Donald Trump by commuting the sentences of dozens of men on federal death row. Trump had said he wanted to carry out as many executions as possible; Biden deprived him of the chance. So it is all the more surprising that Trump’s first year in office is seeing a noticeable surge in executions nationwide. Ten states have executed 30 people since January, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. That’s already the highest annual total in more than a decade, with 13 more executions planned through December.

Two of the six federal counts can carry the death penalty, something federal prosecutors have not sought in a Minnesota-based case since the Supreme Court reinstated capital punishment in 1976 The man charged with killing a prominent Minnesota lawmaker and wounding another could face something that is a rarity for Minnesota but could become more common under the Trump administration: the death penalty. Minnesota abolished capital punishment in 1911, and the state's last execution was a botched hanging in 1906. But federal prosecutors announced charges against Vance Boelter on Monday that can carry the death penalty.

Over the next four days, four inmates in four different states are scheduled to be put to death – a cluster that, while not abnormal, comes amid a national uptick in executions while President Donald Trump calls for the death penalty’s expansion. A cluster of executions is “not that unusual,” according to Robert Dunham, director of the Death Penalty Policy Project. “But it’s become increasingly rare as use of the death penalty has diminished.” Indeed, the number of executions each year remains far lower than its peak in 1999, when nearly 100 people were put to death nationwide. That figure steadily decreased until the Covid-19 pandemic, when it reached historic lows, Dunham said.

Israel’s Minister of Culture and Sports Miki Zohar believes authorities in the United States should pursue the death penalty against the alleged gunman responsible for last week’s murder of two Israeli embassy staffers in Washington, DC, he told The Algemeiner on Tuesday. “I think this is an important message that all the antisemitic people should know — that there is a big price to pay if they do these kinds of actions,” Zohar said of his support for pursuing the death penalty against 31-year-old Elias Rodriguez. “I think this is maybe a good idea, to give a very, very hard penalty against this criminal. And I’m hoping that a strong action against him — or maybe against people that supported him or sent him to do that — will deliver a message that people should avoid this antisemitic way in the future.”

The Department of Justice is seeking the death penalty for an inmate after a federal grand jury charged him for allegedly murdering his 2nd cellmate after he allegedly attempted to murder the 1st one.  27-year-old Jasper Reed was charged with 1st-degree murder, attempted murder and assault resulting in serious bodily injury.  According to court documents, Reed was sent to prison on a slightly over four year sentence for a firearms conviction.  Reed was staying at the Federal Transfer Center (FTC) in Oklahoma City when on April 27, 2024 a corrections officer stated they saw Reed attempting to strangle his cellmate.

Justice Department targets Luigi Mangione after Trump ends Biden's moratorium on capital punishment A former federal prosecutor said the Trump administration is using the Luigi Mangione case to "send a message" in the first 100 days through its potential use of the death penalty. Mangione pleaded not guilty to federal charges of stalking, murder through a firearm, and other firearms offenses during an arraignment hearing on Friday. He's accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in December outside a Hilton hotel where an annual shareholder meeting was scheduled to take place.

NEW YORK, April 24 (Reuters) - U.S. prosecutors formally told a court on Thursday that they plan to seek the death penalty for Luigi Mangione, who is accused of murdering a UnitedHealth Group (UNH.N), opens new tab executive in New York last year. Mangione, 26, is due to appear in Manhattan federal court for an arraignment on Friday. He has pleaded not guilty to a separate New York state indictment he faces over the murder of Brian Thompson, the CEO of UnitedHealth's insurance division. While public officials condemned the killing, some Americans have cheered Mangione, saying he drew attention to steep U.S. healthcare costs and the power of health insurers to refuse payment for some treatments.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and sev­er­al oth­er orga­ni­za­tions rep­re­sent­ing a group of for­mer­ly fed­er­al­ly death-sen­tenced pris­on­ers filed a fed­er­al law­suit on April 16, 2025 seek­ing to pre­vent their trans­fer to the United States Penitentiary Administrative Maximum Facility in Florence, Colorado, known as "ADX.”  The trans­fers were threat­ened by the Department of Justice in response to President Donald Trump’s January 20th Executive Order 14164, which direct­ed Attorney General Pam Bondi to "ensure” that the pris­on­ers who received com­mu­ta­tions of their death sen­tences in the wan­ing days of the Biden Administration​ “are impris­oned in con­di­tions con­sis­tent with the mon­stros­i­ty of their crimes and the threats they pose.” 

A group of federal prisoners filed a lawsuit this week accusing the Trump administration of seeking to move them to a supermax prison to face tougher conditions as punishment for having their death sentences commuted by President Joe Biden. President Donald Trump has repeatedly criticized Biden’s decision to commute the sentences of 37 federal death row inmates to life in prison without parole. After his inauguration, Trump ordered that the former death row prisoners be housed “in conditions consistent with the monstrosity of their crimes and the threats they pose.”

Federal prosecutors were directed by U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi this week to pursue the death penalty against Luigi Mangione, the man accused of murdering United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson last year in New York City. Mangione allegedly shot Thompson as the executive was headed to a health care conference on Dec. 4, killing the father of two on the street. The 26-year-old faces federal murder and stalking charges and 11 state charges, including murder and terrorism charges, which are not eligible for the death penalty.

An inmate who was transferred to Oklahoma last month to face the death penalty now has an execution date. George John Hanson, also known as John Fitzgerald Hanson, is scheduled to die on June 12 for the 1999 murder of 77-year-old Mary Bowles.  The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals on Tuesday set the execution date. The state’s Pardon and Parole Board has a tentative date of May 7 for Hanson’s clemency hearing, executive director Tom Bates said.

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said Tuesday that she has directed prosecutors to seek the death penalty against Luigi Mangione, the man accused of gunning down UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, following through on the president’s campaign promise to vigorously pursue capital punishment. It is the first time the Justice Department has sought to bring the death penalty since President Donald Trump returned to office in January with a vow to resume federal executions. Bondi’s decision to do so in the high-profile case against Mangione, who has drawn a following of supporters upset with the health care industry, underscores the attorney general’s commitment to carrying out the president’s push for new death penalty cases.