No. Massachusetts has no death penalty for any state crime, and no one can be sentenced to death in a Massachusetts state court. The most severe sentence under state law is life in prison without the possibility of parole, for first-degree murder.
The question came up again this weekend. According to Fox News Digital, Edward Paltzik, the lawyer for the juror who held out for conviction in the Lindsay Clancy trial, called for Clancy’s execution in an interview with a YouTube streamer. Clancy has not been convicted of anything; her trial ended in a mistrial on September 4, 2026. And even if she were convicted of first-degree murder at a retrial, execution is not a sentence Massachusetts law allows.
The history of how Massachusetts got here is less simple than “it was abolished,” and it explains why the answer is no.
What the law says today
The penalty for murder is in G.L. c. 265, § 2. Subsection (a) reads: “any person who is found guilty of murder in the first degree shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for life and shall not be eligible for parole.” There is no other sentence for an adult convicted of first-degree murder. Second-degree murder carries life with parole eligibility after 15 to 25 years, set by the judge.
Two groups are now treated differently. People who were under 18 at the time of the crime are eligible for parole under subsection (b). And after Commonwealth v. Mattis, 493 Mass. 216 (2024), the Supreme Judicial Court held that life without parole is unconstitutional for people who were 18, 19 or 20 when they committed the crime. Clancy was in her thirties in January 2023, so neither exception would apply to her.
1980: the SJC strikes down the death penalty as cruel
In 1979 the Legislature passed a new capital punishment statute. The next year, in District Attorney for the Suffolk District v. Watson, 381 Mass. 648 (1980), the Supreme Judicial Court struck it down. The court held that the statute “contravenes the prohibition against cruel or unusual punishment contained in art. 26 of the Declaration of Rights” on two grounds: “(1) the death penalty is unacceptably cruel under contemporary standards of decency, and (2) the death penalty is administered with unconstitutional arbitrariness and discrimination.”
1982: the voters amend the constitution
Voters responded. On November 2, 1982, they approved a constitutional amendment, Article 116 of the Amendments, which added two sentences to Article 26:
“No provision of the Constitution, however, shall be construed as prohibiting the imposition of the punishment of death. The general court may, for the purpose of protecting the general welfare of the citizens, authorize the imposition of the punishment of death by the courts of law having jurisdiction of crimes subject to the punishment of death.”
That amendment is still in the Massachusetts Constitution. This is the part most people miss: the constitution today does not forbid the death penalty. It expressly permits the Legislature to enact one.
The Legislature did, immediately. Chapter 554 of the Acts of 1982 provided for capital punishment for certain first-degree murders, effective January 1, 1983.
1984: the SJC strikes down the new statute too
The 1982 statute lasted less than two years. In Commonwealth v. Colon-Cruz, 393 Mass. 150 (1984), a case arising from the murder of State Trooper George L. Hanna in Auburn in February 1983, the SJC held that the new death penalty provisions violated Article 12 of the Declaration of Rights.
The problem was structural. Under the statute, death could be imposed “only after a trial by jury.” A defendant who pleaded guilty avoided any risk of execution. As the court put it: “Those who plead guilty in cases in which death would be a possible sentence after trial thereby avoid the risk of being put to death. The inevitable consequence is that defendants are discouraged from asserting their right not to plead guilty and their right to demand a trial by jury.” That burden on the right to a jury trial and the right against self-incrimination was unconstitutional.
Colon-Cruz did not rely on the “cruel or unusual” reasoning of Watson, which the 1982 amendment had displaced. It turned on how that particular statute was built.
Since 1984: no statute
Since Colon-Cruz, Massachusetts has had no death penalty statute in force. Because Article 116 remains in the constitution, the Legislature could in theory pass a new one designed to avoid the jury-trial problem. It has not. Without a statute, no Massachusetts court has authority to impose a death sentence.
The exception: federal court in Massachusetts
State law is not the whole answer. Federal crimes are prosecuted in the federal district court in Boston, and some federal crimes carry a possible death sentence regardless of state law.
The best-known example is Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. A federal jury in Boston found him guilty of 30 federal crimes arising from the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing and recommended death for six of them. The First Circuit vacated the death sentences, and in United States v. Tsarnaev, 595 U.S. 302 (2022), the Supreme Court reversed and reinstated them.
That route has nothing to do with the Clancy case. She is charged by the Commonwealth with state crimes in Plymouth Superior Court. There is no federal charge.
What Clancy actually faces
Clancy is charged with first-degree murder in the deaths of her children Cora, Dawson and Callan in Duxbury in January 2023. Her first trial ended in a mistrial after the jury deadlocked, with eleven jurors reported to favor a finding that she was not criminally responsible. If she is retried and convicted of first-degree murder, the sentence is life without parole. If she is found not guilty by reason of lack of criminal responsibility, she is not sentenced at all, though the Commonwealth can seek civil commitment. She is due back in court on Tuesday, September 29, 2026.
Frequently asked questions
Does Massachusetts have the death penalty?
No. There is no death penalty statute in Massachusetts. The harshest state sentence is life without parole for first-degree murder under G.L. c. 265, section 2(a).
When did Massachusetts abolish the death penalty?
The SJC struck down the 1979 statute in District Attorney for the Suffolk District v. Watson (1980) as cruel or unusual punishment. After voters amended the constitution in 1982, the Legislature passed a new statute, which the SJC struck down in Commonwealth v. Colon-Cruz (1984) because it burdened the right to a jury trial. No statute has been enacted since.
Could Massachusetts bring back the death penalty?
The constitution allows it. Article 116 of the Amendments, approved in 1982, says no provision of the constitution shall be construed as prohibiting the death penalty. The Legislature would have to pass a new statute that avoids the problems identified in Colon-Cruz.
Can someone be sentenced to death in Massachusetts federal court?
Yes, for certain federal crimes. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was sentenced to death by a federal jury in Boston, and the Supreme Court reinstated those sentences in United States v. Tsarnaev (2022).
Could Lindsay Clancy get the death penalty?
No. She is charged with state crimes, and Massachusetts has no death penalty. If convicted of first-degree murder at a retrial, the sentence would be life without parole.
Sources: Opinions read: District Attorney for the Suffolk District v. Watson, 381 Mass. 648 (1980); Commonwealth v. Colon-Cruz, 393 Mass. 150 (1984), which quotes Article 116; United States v. Tsarnaev, 595 U.S. 302 (2022); Commonwealth v. Mattis, 493 Mass. 216 (2024). Statutory text of G.L. c. 265, section 2 read at malegislature.gov. Paltzik’s reported remarks from Fox News Digital, September 27, 2026; the underlying interview was not reviewed. General information about Massachusetts law, not legal advice.