‘Punishing death dealers’
Examining claims to expand the death penalty to people who deal drugs
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 17699403 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Joshua H Stout (0000-0002-6840-8681, Illinois State University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Pages | 1-17 |
| Publication date | 2026-04-24 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Contemporary Justice Review (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1028-2580 • E-ISSN: 1477-2248 |
| Publisher | Taylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/10282580.2026.2663183 |
| OpenAlex | W7155551436 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 30 |
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 presidential speeches, this paper explores the claims-making process surrounding the arguments in favor of sentencing people who deal drugs to death during the 1980s and the contemporary opioid crisis. Findings demonstrate that three rhetorical tactics were employed during the Reagan and Trump Administrations to garner support for this practice: focusing on intent and impact of drug dealing, engaging in the argumentative fallacy of appealing to emotion, and utilizing racial scapegoating. Such claims seek to widen the definition of murder, in turn broadening the criminalization of people who use drugs. 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, thus undermining the purported intent of these policies to reduce overdose deaths
Criminal justice · Criminal Justice and Corrections Analysis · HIV, Drug Use, Sexual Risk · Torture, Ethics, and Law
Content Analysis
For the Children?
The American Disease, Origins Of Narcotic Control
Does Gender Modify the Effects of Race–ethnicity on Criminal Sanctioning? Sentences for Male and Female White, Black, and Hispanic Defendants
War on Drugs Policing and Police Brutality
The deterrent effect of the perceived certainty and severity of punishment
Today’s fentanyl crisis
Drug induced homicide laws may worsen opioid related harms
Abolition and harm reduction in the struggle for “Care, Not Cages”
Injection drug users’ involvement in drug dealing in the downtown eastside of Vancouver
An Overlooked Emergency
Opioid Overdose Mortality Among Former North Carolina Inmates
Persistent Criminalization and Structural Racism in US Drug Policy
Criminalized or Medicalized? Examining the Role of Race in Responses to Drug Use
The "Discovery" of Child Abuse
Ethnicity and Judges' Sentencing Decisions
The Relationships Between Mass Media, Public Opinion, and Foreign Policy
Rhetoric in Claims-Making
Contesting the Victim Card
| Highly cited | No |
|---|