WASHINGTON, D.C. – Illinois Senator Dick Durbin is re-introducing a bill that would end the death penalty on a federal level.
The bicameral “Federal Death Penalty Prohibition Act of 2023” was also introduced by Representative Ayanna Pressley (D-Massachusetts). The bill would prohibit the death penalty and resentence those on death row.
Durbin and Pressley introduced a similar bill in 2019, after the Justice Department brought back the use of the death penalty.
In a statement, Durbin said, “The death penalty is deeply flawed and disproportionately imposed on Black and Brown and low-income people in America. Our bill follows the lead of 23 states, including Illinois, by finally putting an end to this failed and unjust policy at the federal level.”
All co-sponsors of the bill in the House and Senate are Democrats or caucus with Democrats.
CLICK HERE for the text of the bill (PDF).
