US federal executions expand under Trump: systemic shift toward punitive justice obscures racialized carceral patterns and global human rights decline

Indigenous legal traditions universally reject state-sanctioned killing as incompatible with the sacredness of life and the principle of restorative justice. The US expansion of executions ignores the fact that Indigenous nations like the Navajo have long practiced peacemaking circles and banishment as alternatives to punitive justice. The framing of executions as 'justice' contradicts Indigenous cosmologies where harm is addressed through communal repair, not state violence. This erasure reflects the ongoing colonial violence of US legal institutions, which have historically criminalized Indigenous lifeways while reserving the most extreme punishments for Indigenous peoples.

The US death penalty has always been a tool of racial control, from slave codes to post-Reconstruction lynchings to the modern era of mass incarceration. The 1972 *Furman v. Georgia* ruling temporarily halted executions due to racial bias, but the 1976 *Gregg v. Georgia* decision reinstated it, leading to a resurgence of state killing disproportionately targeting Black men. The current expansion mirrors the 1920s-30s era of eugenics and state violence, where executions were used to suppress labor movements and Black political organizing. Historical parallels exist globally, such as South Africa’s apartheid-era executions or Japan’s retention of the death penalty despite international criticism.

While the US doubles down on executions, 144 countries have abolished the death penalty in law or practice, with many citing its inefficacy and moral bankruptcy. In abolitionist nations like Germany, the shift followed recognition that state killing dehumanizes both victim and perpetrator, perpetuating cycles of violence. African traditions like Ubuntu ('I am because we are') emphasize that justice must heal communities, not sever lives. Even in retentionist countries like Singapore, debates rage over whether executions deter crime or merely satisfy populist demands for vengeance. The US is increasingly isolated in its embrace of state-sanctioned killing as a 'solution.'

Decades of criminological research demonstrate that the death penalty does not deter crime and is applied arbitrarily, with geography and race being stronger predictors of execution than crime severity. Studies show that states with the death penalty have higher murder rates than those without, contradicting the 'deterrence' myth. The risk of executing innocent people is substantial: since 1973, 190 people in the US have been exonerated from death row, with many more likely wrongfully executed. Neuroscientific research indicates that the trauma of violent crime is not resolved by state killing, but often deepened, as victims' families report prolonged suffering.

Artists and spiritual leaders have long condemned executions as a failure of humanity’s moral imagination. Toni Morrison’s *Beloved* and Bryan Stevenson’s *Just Mercy* depict the spiritual rot of a system that claims justice through killing. Pope Francis has called the death penalty 'an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person,' aligning with Buddhist teachings that reject violence as a path to peace. Indigenous artists like Jaune Quick-to-See Smith have used their work to expose the colonial violence of US legal systems. The spiritual dimension of this issue lies in the question: what does it mean for a society to ritualize killing as a form of justice?

If the US continues expanding executions, it risks further erosion of its human rights credibility, potentially triggering sanctions or diplomatic isolation from abolitionist nations. The policy could embolden authoritarian regimes globally to justify state killings under the guise of 'law and order,' accelerating a global regression in human rights. Conversely, if resistance grows—through legal challenges, corporate divestment from prison contractors, or international pressure—the US could reverse course, as seen with the federal execution moratorium in 2021. Future scenarios depend on whether the public perceives executions as 'justice' or as a symptom of a failing system.

The voices most affected by this policy—families of the executed, exonerees, and communities of color—are systematically excluded from the narrative. Black Americans are executed at disproportionately high rates, yet their perspectives on justice are rarely centered in media coverage. The families of murder victims, who often oppose the death penalty, are also silenced by a discourse that frames executions as the only 'closure.' Indigenous and Latino communities, who bear the brunt of racialized policing, are erased from the debate despite their long-standing critiques of the carceral state. The policy serves the interests of political elites while further marginalizing those it claims to protect.