Trump Administration signs executive order to expand the federal death penalty
On January 20th, President Trump signed an executive order to expand the federal death penalty, shortly after former President Joe Biden recently commuted 37 federal death sentences in December of 2024. This decision marked the largest number of death sentences commuted by any president in modern history.
Trump’s new order instructs the Department of Justice’s Attorney General to, “pursue the death penalty for all crimes of a severity demanding its use,” particularly for any case that involves a person who murders a law-enforcement officer or an undocumented person who commits a capital crime, “regardless of other factors.”
The order calls on the Attorney General to evaluate the prison environment of the 37 individuals on death row whose sentences were commuted, “to ensure that these offenders are imprisoned in conditions consistent with the monstrosity of their crimes and the threats they pose.” President Trump directs the Attorney General to “take all necessary and lawful action to ensure that each state that allows capital punishment has a sufficient supply of drugs needed to carry out lethal injection.” The Department of Justice, per the order, shall also move to overrule any Supreme Court precedents “that limit the authority of State and Federal governments to impose capital punishment.”
In Trump’s first term, the federal government carried out 13 executions between July 2020 and January 2021, breaking a 17-year pause in federal executions. In many of these cases, crucial evidence related to claims of intellectual disability, poor mental state, racial bias, unreliable forensic evidence, or other critical issues were never thoroughly examined or considered by a court before the individuals were executed.
This expansion of the federal death penalty under Trump’s executive order raises alarming concerns for the future risk of executing an innocent person, and exacerbates the deeply ingrained racial disparities that have long plagued our capital punishment system.
The death penalty carries the inherent risk of killing innocent people
The death penalty carries the irreversible risk of executing individuals who may be wrongfully convicted. Since 1973, at least 200 innocent people who were sentenced to death row in the U.S. have been exonerated. According to a 2014 study, it was estimated that at least 4%—at least 90 individuals—currently on death row are innocent.
Incentivized witnesses, flawed evidence, inadequate legal representation, and systemic biases can all lead to wrongful convictions, resulting in innocent people facing the ultimate punishment.
As exonerations continue to reveal past injustices, the death penalty’s irrevocable nature underscores the urgent need for action to ensure that the innocent do not pay the highest price for judicial mistakes.
Race and the death penalty
Today, modern studies consistently demonstrate the significant influence that race plays in the administration of the death penalty. According to the Death Penalty Information Center, more than half of individuals exonerated from death row are Black.
People of color are more vulnerable to capital prosecutions due to a variety of social, economic, and systemic inequalities including racial bias. These disparities are not confined to death row; they permeate every level of the justice system.
According to the National Registry of Exonerations, innocent Black Americans are seven times more likely than white Americans to be falsely convicted of crimes they did not commit.
The death penalty drains public resources
Years of evidence and research have continued to show that the federal death penalty significantly drains public resources and does not actually deter crime or promote public safety.
In a 2010 study by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts found that the median cost of a federal death penalty case was nearly eight times greater than a non-death penalty case.
The death penalty is a much more expensive process than life imprisonment without parole due to the extensive legal processes involved in capital cases. Death penalty cases require more pre-trial time, longer trials, and more appeals which significantly increases legal fees and court costs.
As a result, the death penalty poses a significant financial burden on taxpayers, which could be better allocated to initiatives that genuinely promote safety and well-being in our communities.
The death penalty in Montana and the need for system reform
The death penalty in Montana has been on a moratorium since 2015 as a result of a court ruling that found that one of the drugs planned for use in Montana’s lethal injection method violated state law.
During the 2025 session the Montana Legislature considered HB 205, a bill proposing to amend the existing method of execution in Montana, shifting from a combination of barbiturates and a chemical paralytic agent to a single intravenous injection of a lethal substance or substances.
However, Montana Legislators rejected the bill Thursday, January 30th, during its second reading on the House floor in a final vote count of 49 in favor, 51 opposed.
The Montana Innocence Project remains steadfast in our support for a moratorium on capital punishment while the causes of wrongful convictions are fully identified and remedied. Our focus is on the inherent risk of executing innocent people and the need to reform the system to prevent all wrongful convictions—including those in capital cases.