Executive Order 14164

Restoring the Death Penalty and Protecting Public Safety

Signed January 20, 2025, printed at 90 FR 8463. 6 sections of substance, 1,072 words.

In plain English

This order backs the death penalty. It tells federal lawyers to seek it more often. It also presses states to keep using it.

Read it at the Federal Register →

Sec. 1. Purpose

Capital punishment is an essential tool for deterring and punishing those who would commit the most heinous crimes and acts of lethal violence against American citizens. Before, during, and after the founding of the United States, our cities, States, and country have continuously relied upon capital punishment as the ultimate deterrent and only proper punishment for the vilest crimes. Our Founders knew well that only capital punishment can bring justice and restore order in response to such evil. For this and other reasons, capital punishment continues to enjoy broad popular support. Yet for too long, politicians and judges who oppose capital punishment have defied and subverted the laws of our country. At every turn, they seek to thwart the execution of lawfully imposed capital sentences and choose to enforce their personal beliefs rather than the law. When President Biden took office

In plain English

This sets out the case the order makes. It calls the death penalty a needed tool. It says the country has used it since before its founding. It says the public still backs it. It says some judges and officials have blocked it. It says they put belief above the law.

Sec. 2. Policy

It is the policy of the United States to ensure that the laws that authorize capital punishment are respected and faithfully implemented, and to counteract the politicians and judges who subvert the law by obstructing and preventing the execution of capital sentences.

In plain English

This states the policy. Laws that allow the death penalty must be respected. They must be carried out faithfully. It says some officials block that. Politicians are named. So are judges. It says they subvert the law. Their obstruction must be countered.

Sec. 3. Federal Capital Punishment

(a) The Attorney General shall pursue the death penalty for all crimes of a severity demanding its use. (b) In addition to pursuing the death penalty where possible, the Attorney General shall, where consistent with applicable law, pursue Federal jurisdiction and seek the death penalty regardless of other factors for every federal capital crime involving: (i) The murder of a law-enforcement officer; or (ii) A capital crime committed by an alien illegally present in this country. The Attorney General shall encourage State attorneys general and district attorneys to bring State capital charges for all capital crimes with special [[Page 8464]] attention to the crimes described in Subsections (i) and (ii), regardless of whether the federal trial results in a capital sentence. (d) The Attorney General shall take all appropriate action to modify the Justice Manual based on the policy and

In plain English

This tells the Attorney General to seek death sentences. He must do so where the crime warrants it. Two kinds of case get special weight. One is the killing of a police officer. The other is a capital crime by someone here illegally. He must urge state prosecutors to do the same.

Sec. 4. Preserving Capital Punishment in the States

(a) The Attorney General shall 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. (b) The Attorney General shall take all appropriate action to approve or deny any pending request for certification made by any State under 28 U.S.C. 2265.

In plain English

This is about the states. Justice must help each state that allows the death penalty. Those states need drugs for lethal injection. Justice must make sure the supply holds. It must also rule on state requests under one law. Approving or denying each is required.

Sec. 5.

Seeking The Overruling of Supreme Court Precedents That Hinder Capital Punishment. The Attorney General shall take all appropriate action to seek the overruling of Supreme Court precedents that limit the authority of State and Federal governments to impose capital punishment.

In plain English

This targets court rulings. Justice must work to have some overturned. Those rulings came from the Supreme Court. They limit the power to impose a death sentence. States are held back by them. So is the federal government. Justice must take every fit step to seek their reversal.

Sec. 6. Prosecuting Crime to Protect Communities

(a) The Attorney General shall appropriately prioritize public safety and the prosecution of violent crime, and take all appropriate action necessary to dismantle transnational criminal activity in the United States. (b) To ensure the fullest protection of American communities from violence, the Attorney General shall encourage state attorneys general and district attorneys to adopt policies and practices aligned with subsection (a). Federal law enforcement should coordinate with State and local law enforcement where possible to facilitate these objectives.

In plain English

This is about violent crime. The Attorney General must make it a top case load. He must work to break up crime rings that cross borders. He must urge state and local prosecutors to do the same. Federal agents should work with local police where they can.

Sec. 7. General Provisions

Every order carries this. It is not what the order does.

(a) Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect: (i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or the head thereof; or (ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals. (b) This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations. [[Page 8465]] (c) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person. <GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT> (Presidential Sig.) THE WHITE HOUSE, January 20, 2025. [FR Doc. 2025-02012 Filed 1-29-25; 8:45 am] Billing code 3395-F4-P </pre></body>

In plain English

This is the closing clause that nearly every order carries. It says the order does not change what the law already allows. It also says no one can sue to enforce it.

How this order is quoted

Each section is quoted as the order prints it, under its own number and heading. Executive orders are United States government works and are not under copyright. Long sections are cut at a sentence and the whole order is a click away.