Rep. Nancy Mace proposes legislation to reinstate capital punishment in Washington, D.C.

Representative Nancy Mace has filed a bill aiming to reintroduce the death penalty in Washington, D.C., targeting offenses including first-degree murder, terrorism, the murder of police or public-safety workers, aggravated child sexual abuse, and the sale of deadly drugs that cause a minor’s death. The proposal would require a distinct sentencing hearing and define specific aggravating and mitigating criteria for capital cases.

Under the bill, electrocution would serve as the standard execution method, but defendants could opt for lethal injection, firing squad, lethal gas, or nitrogen hypoxia. Mace cited the last execution in the district, that of Robert Carter in 1957, to underscore the historical precedent. She contended that reinstating the death penalty would signal that the capital is not a safe haven for the nation’s most violent criminals. The measure follows a 2025 presidential memorandum by Donald Trump that partially restored the penalty for federal crimes, and it seeks to make reversal by future administrations more difficult.