Attorney General Jeff Sessions: Feds should pursue death penalty in some drug cases

WASHINGTON — Following President Trump's lead, Attorney General Jeff Sessions Wednesday urged federal prosecutors to pursue death penalty charges in some drug cases to counter the opioid scourge.

Sessions, in a one-page memorandum to the nation's 94 chief federal prosecutors, said existing law provides for the maximum punishment in designated cases.

"Congress has passed several statutes that provide the department with the ability to seek capital punishment for certain drug-related crimes," Sessions wrote. "I strongly encourage federal prosecutors to use these statutes, when appropriate, to aid in our continuing fight against drug trafficking and the destruction it causes in our nation."

The attorney general cited three specific laws in which the government may seek death, including the so-called "kingpin statute" involving the trafficking of large drug shipments. The Justice Department, however, confirmed Wednesday that death has never been sought in such cases.

Traditionally, the death penalty is pursued in some drug-related cases that are linked to murder.

Yet, even in the most heinous murder cases where criminals have been sentenced to death, executions in the federal system have been rarely carried out.

Stalled by legal challenges over the drugs used to carry out lethal injections, the last federal execution occurred 15 years ago.

Sessions' directive comes two days after Trump called for convicted drug traffickers to face possible execution.

"We can have all the blue-ribbon committees we want, but if we don't get tough on drug dealers we're wasting our time," the president said. "And that toughness includes the death penalty."

Some law enforcement leaders objected to Trump's strategy, saying that the drug crisis would be more appropriately addressed as a public health problem.

“President Trump’s plan recognizes the severity of the opioid crisis plaguing our communities. However, law enforcement officials who lived through our country’s 'War On Drugs' know that mass incarceration and the death penalty will not solve our country’s opioid crisis,” said former New Orleans police superintendent Ronal Serpas, chairman of the group Law Enforcement Leaders.

“We are concerned that the extreme enforcement and penalty measures in the plan would shift policy in a dangerous direction.”