The US federal government lists 41 capital offenses that are punishable by death. See the full list below.
The capital offenses include espionage, treason, and death resulting from aircraft hijacking. However, they mostly consist of various forms of murder such as murder committed during a drug-related drive-by shooting, murder during a kidnapping, murder for hire, and genocide.
According to the Death Penalty Information Center, “The federal death penalty applies in all 50 states and U.S. territories but is used relatively rarely. About 50 prisoners are on the federal death row, most of whom are imprisoned in Terre Haute, Indiana. Sixteen federal executions have been carried out in the modern era, all by lethal injection, with 13 occurring in a six-month period between July 2020 and January 2021… The use of the federal death penalty in jurisdictions that have themselves opted not to have capital punishment—such as Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, and many states—has raised particular concerns about federal overreach into state matters.”
| Code | Type of Crime | |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | 8 USC § 1324 | Murder related to the smuggling of aliens |
| 2. | 18 USC § 32-34 | Destruction of aircraft, motor vehicles, or related facilities resulting in death |
| 3. | 18 USC § 36 | Murder committed during a drug-related drive-by shooting |
| 4. | 18 USC § 37 | Murder committed at an airport serving international civil aviation |
| 5. | 18 USC § 115 [by cross-reference to 18 USC § 1111] | Retaliatory murder of a member of the immediate family of law enforcement officials |
| 6. | 18 USC § 241-247 | Civil rights offenses resulting in death |
| 7. | 18 USC § 351 [by cross-reference to 18 USC § 1111] | Murder of a member of Congress, an important executive official, or a Supreme Court Justice |
| 8. | 18 USC § 794 | Espionage |
| 9. | 18 USC § 844 | Death resulting from offenses involving transportation of explosives, destruction of government property, or destruction of property related to foreign or interstate commerce |
| 10. | 18 USC § 924 | Murder committed by the use of a firearm during a crime of violence or a drug-trafficking crime |
| 11. | 18 USC § 930 [by cross-reference to 18 USC § 1111] | Murder committed in a federal government facility |
| 12. | 18 USC § 1091 | Genocide |
| 13. | 18 USC § 1111 | First-degree murder |
| 14. | 18 USC § 1114 | Murder of a federal judge or law enforcement official |
| 15. | 18 USC § 1116 | Murder of a foreign official |
| 16. | 18 USC § 1118 | Murder by a federal prisoner |
| 17. | 18 USC § 1119 | Murder of a US national in a foreign country |
| 18. | 18 USC § 1120 | Murder by an escaped federal prisoner already sentenced to life imprisonment |
| 19. | 18 USC § 1121 [by cross-reference to 18 U.S.C. § 1111] | Murder of a state or local law enforcement official or other person aiding in a federal investigation; murder of a State correctional officer |
| 20. | 18 USC § 1201 | Murder during a kidnapping |
| 21. | 18 USC § 1203 [by cross-reference to 18 U.S.C. § 1111] | Murder during a hostage taking |
| 22. | 18 USC § 1503 | Murder of a court officer or juror |
| 23. | 18 USC § 1512 | Murder with the intent of preventing testimony by a witness, victim, or informant |
| 24. | 18 USC § 1513 | Retaliatory murder of a witness, victim, or informant |
| 25. | 18 USC § 1716 | Mailing of injurious articles with intent to kill or resulting in death |
| 26. | 18 USC § 1751 [by cross-reference to 18 USC § 1111] | Assassination or kidnapping resulting in the death of the President or Vice President |
| 27. | 18 USC § 1958 | Murder for hire involving the use of interstate commerce facilities. |
| 28. | 18 USC § 1959 | Murder involved in a racketeering offense |
| 29. | 18 USC § 1992 | Willful wrecking of a train resulting in death |
| 30. | 18 USC § 2113 | Bank-robbery-related murder or kidnapping |
| 31. | 18 USC § 2119 | Murder related to a carjacking |
| 32. | 18 USC § 2245 | Murder related to rape or child molestation |
| 33. | 18 USC § 2251 | Murder related to sexual exploitation of children |
| 34. | 18 USC § 2280 | Murder committed during an offense against maritime navigation |
| 35. | 18 USC § 2281 | Murder committed during an offense against a maritime fixed platform |
| 36. | 18 USC § 2332 [by cross-reference to 18 U.S.C. § 1111] | Terrorist murder of a US national in another country |
| 37. | 18 USC § 2332a | Murder by the use of a weapon of mass destruction |
| 38. | 18 U.S.C. § 2332b | Acts of terrorism in the United States resulting in death, committed by a person engaged in conduct that transcends national boundaries. |
| 39. | 18 USC § 2340, 2340a | Torture resulting in death committed outside the United States by a U.S. national or by a foreign national present in the US |
| 40. | 18 USC § 2381 | Treason |
| 41. | 21 USC § 848(e) (Anti Drug Abuse Act) | Murder related to a continuing criminal enterprise or related murder of a Federal, State, or local law enforcement officer |
| 42. | 49 USC § 46502 | Death resulting from aircraft hijacking |
Source:
Death Penalty Information Center, “Federal Laws Providing for the Death Penalty,” deathpenaltyinfo.org (accessed Aug. 19, 2021)
Death Penalty Information Center, “Federal Death Penalty,” deathpenaltyinfo.org (accessed Aug. 19, 2021)
