The District of Columbia last executed a prisoner in 1957, when Robert Eugene Carter was put to death for killing a police officer while fleeing a robbery. At that time the law in the capital mandated the death penalty for certain first-degree murders, and Carter died in the electric chair. President Donald Trump pledged to bring back capital punishment in Washington, D.C., stating that murderers in the capital would face the death penalty. The pledge came during a cabinet meeting and included repeated wordplay on “capital punishment.” The promise conflicts with Supreme Court precedent outlawing mandatory death sentences and intersects with racial politics surrounding execution.
The District of Columbia carried out its last execution in 1957. That April, it put Robert Eugene Carter to death for killing a police officer as Carter tried to flee a robbery he had just committed. At the time, the law in the nation's capital made the death penalty mandatory for first-degree murders of the kind Carter committed. He died in the electric chair.
By the way, speaking of that, the president continued as if his memory was triggered by talk of ridding Washington of crime. Anybody murders something in the capital, capital punishment, capital, capital punishment, he repeated as if soullessly enjoying the wordplay on a deadly serious subject. That's a very strong preventative, he claimed, ignoring the mountain of evidence pointing to the fact that the death penalty is not an effective deterrent.
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