No, Massachusetts does not have the death penalty. The state carried out its last execution in 1947, the Supreme Judicial Court struck down capital punishment in 1984, and no reinstatement effort since has succeeded. The most severe sentence a Massachusetts court can hand down today is life in prison without the possibility of parole. Federal prosecutors, however, can still seek a death sentence for certain federal crimes committed in the state.
Why Massachusetts Can’t Impose a Death Sentence
Two Supreme Judicial Court decisions closed the door, and a constitutional amendment in between failed to reopen it.
In 1980, the court ruled in District Attorney for the Suffolk District v. Watson that capital punishment violated Article 26 of the Massachusetts Declaration of Rights, which bans “cruel or unusual punishments.”1Justia. District Attorney for the Suffolk District v. Watson, 381 Mass. 648 (1980) The wording is broader than the Eighth Amendment’s “cruel and unusual” standard: under the state constitution, a punishment need only be one or the other to be unlawful.2Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Massachusetts Declaration of Rights – Article 26
Voters responded in 1982 by approving Article 116, which added language to Article 26 saying the constitution should not be read as prohibiting capital punishment and giving the legislature authority to enact it.3General Court of Massachusetts. Articles of Amendment The legislature passed a new death penalty statute soon after.
In 1984, the SJC struck that statute down in Commonwealth v. Colon-Cruz.4Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Massachusetts Law About the Death Penalty With Article 26 no longer available as a basis, the court turned to Article 12, which protects the right against self-incrimination and the right to a jury trial. The problem with the new law was structural: only defendants who went to trial could face a death sentence, while anyone who pleaded guilty was automatically spared. That, the court held, forced defendants to choose between pleading guilty and exercising their constitutional right to a trial, an unconstitutional penalty on the use of a fundamental right.
Colon-Cruz remains controlling. No legislature has drafted a statute that avoids the Article 12 problem, and that hurdle has proven far harder to legislate around than the original Article 26 ruling was.
The Maximum Sentence in Massachusetts Today
First-degree murder carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole. A judge has no discretion to impose anything less, and the only path out is a commutation from the governor.5General Court of Massachusetts. Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 265 Section 2 – Punishment for Murder; Parole; Executive Clemency
Second-degree murder also carries life, but with parole eligibility after a minimum number of years set by the judge at sentencing.
Juvenile offenders are treated differently. State law makes defendants who were between 14 and 17 at the time of a first-degree murder eligible for parole after a minimum term set by the sentencing judge.6Legal Information Institute. 120 CMR 200.02 – Parole Eligibility Calculations The SJC held in Diatchenko v. District Attorney for the Suffolk District (2013) that sentencing any juvenile to life without any chance of parole violates Article 26, reasoning that juveniles have a greater capacity for rehabilitation and must at least have the chance to seek release.
The Federal Exception
Federal law still authorizes capital punishment, and federal prosecutors can bring death-eligible charges for crimes committed anywhere in the country, including Massachusetts. The Federal Death Penalty Act covers offenses such as treason, espionage, terrorism, and certain murders tied to kidnapping or large-scale drug trafficking.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 3591 – Sentence of Death
The Boston Marathon bombing is the clearest example. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was tried in federal court in Boston on 30 charges, including 17 capital offenses, for the April 15, 2013 attack that killed three people and wounded hundreds. A jury sentenced him to death in 2015. The First Circuit later vacated the death sentence, but the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated it on March 4, 2022, holding that Tsarnaev had received a fair trial.8Supreme Court of the United States. United States v. Tsarnaev
Whether federal death sentences are actually carried out has shifted with administration policy. The Department of Justice imposed a moratorium on federal executions in July 2021. The Attorney General lifted that moratorium on February 5, 2025, announcing that the department would resume carrying out federal death sentences.9Office of the Attorney General. Reviving the Federal Death Penalty and Lifting the Moratorium on Federal Executions Tsarnaev remains on federal death row.
Attempts to Bring It Back
Reinstatement bills have failed repeatedly in the state legislature. The closest vote came in 1997, when a House measure ended in an 80–80 tie, killing the bill. Later attempts moved further from passage: 80–73 against in 1999 and 92–60 against in 2001. Governor Mitt Romney’s 2005 push for what he called a “gold standard” death penalty statute designed to survive the Colon-Cruz ruling lost 99–53 in the House. Any future bill that did pass would still have to withstand SJC review under Article 12.