What crimes are punishable by death in the US?

The United States federal government (in comparison to the separate states) applies the death penalty for crimes: treason, terrorism, espionage, federal murder, large-scale drug trafficking, and attempting to kill a witness, juror, or court officer in certain cases. read more

While many crimes punishable by death by the federal government are well-known, others on this capital offenses list are obscure, and have never actually resulted in anyone getting the death penalty. For example, while committing a murder during a hijacking or terrorist attack are capital crimes, so are killing someone on a merchant ship, oil platform, or in the process of wrecking a train. read more

The Crimes Act of 1790 defined some capital offenses: treason, murder, robbery, piracy, mutiny, hostility against the United States, counterfeiting, and aiding the escape of a capital prisoner. The first federal execution was that of Thomas Bird on June 25, 1790 due to his committing "murder on the high seas". read more

California - First-degree murder with special circumstances; military sabotage; death in the course of train wrecking; treason; perjury resulting in execution of an innocent person; fatal assault by a prisoner serving a life sentence. [California's death penalty provisions are set forth in Cal. Penal Code §§ 187-199. read more

There are 41 crimes punishable by death in US federal law codes. Federal death penalty crimes almost always involve murder committed in some kind of special circumstance, involving protected classes, multiple crimes, or children. There are 62 prisoners on federal death row, and their crimes range from multiple murders to terrorist bombings. read more