Prez Trump issues executive order on “restoring the death penalty and protecting public saftety”

As well summarized in this AP article, “President Donald Trump signed a sweeping execution order Monday on the death penalty.”  Here is more:

Trump’s order, coming just hours after he returned to the White House, compels the Justice Department to not only seek the death penalty in appropriate federal cases but also to help preserve capital punishment in states that have struggled to maintain adequate supplies of lethal injection drugs.

Trump had been expected to restart federal executions, which have been on hold since a moratorium was imposed by former Attorney General Merrick Garland in 2021. Only three defendants remain on federal death row after Democratic President Joe Biden recently converted 37 of their sentences to life in prison.

Trump directed the attorney general to pursue federal jurisdiction and seek the death penalty “regardless of other factors” when the case involves the killing of a law enforcement officer or capital crimes “committed by an alien illegally present in this country.” He’s also instructing the attorney general to seek to overrule Supreme Court precedents that “limit the authority of limit the authority of State and Federal governments to impose capital punishment.”

“The Government’s most solemn responsibility is to protect its citizens from abhorrent acts, and my Administration will not tolerate efforts to stymie and eviscerate the laws that authorize capital punishment against those who commit horrible acts of violence against American citizens,” Trump’s order said.

The fascinating full executive order, which has lots and lots of intriguing elements, can be found at this link.  Because I am on the road and still celebrating a recent ballgame, I may need a few days for further commentary on what this order might mean and how it could echo through the work of the Justice Department.  But, for now, I think it worth noting that federal capital prosecutors and feeral capital defense lawyers may be in a much different world this week than they were last week (and which was an even different world last month).