“Punishing Death Dealers”: Examining Calls to Expand the Death Penalty to People Who Deliver Drugs

• In Event: Pursuing Punishment for Drug Crimes: Examining Policy and Public Opinion

Abstract

In 1988, the Anti-Drug Abuse Act authorized the use of the death penalty for individuals who committed murder while involved in certain federal drug crimes. In recent years, as America has grappled with rising opioid overdose deaths, there has been an increase in calls for expanding murder charges and capital punishment for individuals who deliver drugs that result in an overdose death. Utilizing content analysis of news media and legislative hearings, this paper explores the claims-making process surrounding the arguments sentencing drug dealers to death during the 1980s and the contemporary opioid crisis. Preliminary findings indicate that rhetoric employed during the crack cocaine crisis of the 1980s was offender-focused and centered on punitive tough-on-crime approaches. Comparatively, during the opioid crisis, claims-making has become more focused on the bereaved and narratives of closure. Contemporary claims seek to widen the definition of murder and classify fentanyl as a weapon of mass destruction, in turn broadening the criminalization of people who use drugs. Counterclaims state that such an approach may increase the number of overdose deaths by undermining Good Samaritan Laws and impacting the likelihood that users will contact emergency services during an overdose event.

Author

• Joshua Stout, Illinois State University