Federal Death Penalty in Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico abolished the death penalty in 1929, making it one of the earliest U.S. jurisdictions to do so. The Puerto Rico Constitution of 1952 explicitly prohibits capital punishment in Article II, Section 7: "The right to life, liberty and the enjoyment of property is recognized as a fundamental right of man. The death penalty shall not exist."

Despite this clear expression of Puerto Rican democratic will, the U.S. federal government has sought the death penalty in Puerto Rico in multiple cases under federal jurisdiction:

United States v. Acosta Martínez (2001-2003): The U.S. Department of Justice, under Attorney General John Ashcroft, sought the death penalty against two men charged with federal drug crimes in Puerto Rico. A federal court ruled that seeking the death penalty in Puerto Rico violated the islanders' due process and equal protection rights, but this ruling was later reversed.

United States v. Sablan (2012): The federal government sought the death penalty against a Puerto Rico resident for a killing in a federal prison.

The Constitutional Conflict: The application of the federal death penalty in Puerto Rico creates a direct conflict between:
- Puerto Rico's constitution and laws, which prohibit capital punishment
- Federal law, which allows the death penalty for certain federal crimes
- Under the Supremacy Clause, federal law prevails — meaning the colonial power can impose the ultimate punishment on people who have democratically rejected it

This represents one of the starkest examples of the colonial relationship: Puerto Ricans cannot vote for the Congress that writes federal death penalty laws, cannot vote for the President who appoints the Attorney General who decides to seek it, and cannot change their own constitutional prohibition's supremacy — yet they can be sentenced to death under the laws of a government in which they have no representation.