Should drug dealers get the death penalty?

United States Attorney General Jeff Sessions recently issued a one-page memo calling for death penalty for drug dealers when it is “appropriate.” Sessions asked prosecutors to seek the death penalty for drug-related offenses as part of an effort to combat the opioid crisis. The memo said, in part, “Drug traffickers, transnational criminal organizations, and violent street gangs all contribute substantially to this scourge. To combat this deadly epidemic, federal prosecutors must consider every lawful tool at their disposal.” According to a Quinnipiac University poll taken just days after the release of the memo, 71 percent of Americans queried on the subject oppose such a policy. In this podcast segment, Jim and Doug discuss whether or not such a policy targeting “large-scale drug dealers” might become a judicial quagmire.