Yes. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the surviving perpetrator of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, is still on federal death row. A jury sentenced him to death in 2015, the First Circuit vacated that sentence in 2020, and the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated it in March 2022. His case is still active: a federal judge was ordered in 2024 to investigate new claims of juror bias, and that inquiry remains pending. No execution date can be set while those proceedings continue.
Where Tsarnaev Is Held
Most federal death row inmates are housed in the Special Confinement Unit at USP Terre Haute in Indiana. Tsarnaev is an exception. He is held at ADX Florence, the federal supermax in Florence, Colorado, sometimes called “The Alcatraz of the Rockies.” ADX houses inmates who pose extraordinary security risks because of the nature of their offenses or their behavior in custody. A federal judge has described the facility as “physically constructed and operated” to impose conditions “more socially isolating than those at any other correctional facility.”
Federal regulations also allow the Attorney General to impose Special Administrative Measures on inmates whose communications could pose a national security threat. Those measures can restrict phone calls, mail, visits, and media contact beyond the already severe limits at ADX.1eCFR. 28 CFR 501.2 – National Security Cases
How the Death Sentence Was Reinstated
A federal grand jury indicted Tsarnaev on 30 charges, 17 of which carried the possibility of death. In April 2015, a jury found him guilty on all 30 counts and recommended death on six of them during the penalty phase.2Supreme Court of the United States. United States v. Tsarnaev, No. 20-443 U.S. District Judge George O’Toole formally imposed the death sentence along with multiple consecutive life terms on June 24, 2015.3United States Department of Justice. Judge Imposes Death Sentence for Boston Marathon Bomber
The case was prosecuted federally because the charges involved federal terrorism statutes and the use of weapons of mass destruction. Massachusetts abolished state-level capital punishment in 1984, but that had no bearing on the federal prosecution. The federal government can seek death for qualifying crimes regardless of the state’s own law.4Death Penalty Information Center. Federal Death Penalty in Non-Death Penalty States
In July 2020, the First Circuit vacated the death sentences on two grounds: the trial judge had not adequately screened jurors about their exposure to intense pretrial media coverage, and the judge had excluded evidence about Tamerlan Tsarnaev’s alleged involvement in an earlier triple murder, which the defense argued was relevant to showing Tamerlan was the dominant force behind the bombing. The underlying convictions stayed intact, but a new penalty-phase trial would have been required.
The Justice Department took the case to the Supreme Court, which heard argument in October 2021. On March 4, 2022, the Court reversed the First Circuit in a 6–3 decision, holding that the trial judge had acted within his discretion on both jury screening and evidence exclusion. The majority emphasized that a defendant is entitled to an impartial jury, not one completely ignorant of the case.2Supreme Court of the United States. United States v. Tsarnaev, No. 20-443
The Juror Bias Investigation Still Pending
The litigation did not end with the Supreme Court. In March 2024, the First Circuit ordered Judge O’Toole to investigate new claims of juror bias raised by the defense.5Justia. US v. Tsarnaev, No. 16-6001 (1st Cir. 2024) Tsarnaev’s lawyers then asked that Judge O’Toole be removed from the inquiry, arguing he could not be impartial. The First Circuit rejected that request in August 2025. The investigation remains pending before Judge O’Toole.
If the court finds that one or more jurors were biased, the result could be a new penalty-phase trial, with a different jury deciding between death and life in prison. The convictions on all 30 counts would remain in place regardless of the outcome.
The Moratorium Is Gone, but He Isn’t Closer to Execution
In July 2021, Attorney General Merrick Garland imposed a moratorium on all federal executions pending a review of policies and procedures. On January 20, 2025, President Trump signed an executive order directing the Attorney General to “pursue the death penalty for all crimes of a severity demanding its use” and to take steps to resume executions.6The White House. Restoring the Death Penalty and Protecting Public Safety On February 5, 2025, the Attorney General formally lifted the moratorium, effective immediately.7Office of the Attorney General. Reviving the Federal Death Penalty and Lifting the Moratorium on Federal Executions
In December 2024, President Biden commuted the death sentences of 37 of the 40 people then on federal death row. Tsarnaev was one of only three prisoners whose sentence was not commuted. He therefore remains condemned, and the federal government is once again carrying out executions in principle. For Tsarnaev specifically, though, neither the moratorium nor its lifting changes anything in the near term. Federal law requires that a condemned prisoner remain in the Attorney General’s custody until all appeals are exhausted, and his are not.8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 3596 – Implementation of a Sentence of Death
What Would Still Have to Happen
Even if the pending juror bias inquiry does not disturb the sentence, several more steps stand between Tsarnaev and an execution date.
After direct appeals are exhausted, a federal prisoner can file a motion under 28 U.S.C. § 2255 asking the sentencing court to vacate or correct the sentence. Grounds include constitutional violations, lack of jurisdiction, or a sentence exceeding what the law allows. A second or successive motion is much harder: a panel of appellate judges must first certify that it relies on newly discovered evidence strong enough that no reasonable jury would have found the defendant guilty, or on a new constitutional rule the Supreme Court has made retroactive.9Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 U.S. Code 2255 – Federal Custody; Remedies on Motion Attacking Sentence
He can also petition the President for clemency through the Office of the Pardon Attorney. In capital cases, the petition should not be filed until direct appeal and the first post-conviction motion are complete. Once an execution date is set, a petition for commutation should be filed within 30 days of notification, with supporting materials due 15 days after that.10eCFR. 28 CFR Part 1 – Executive Clemency Only one clemency request is ordinarily processed to completion unless exceptional circumstances exist.
There is also an unresolved question about method. Under federal statute, executions are carried out “in the manner prescribed by the law of the State in which the sentence is imposed.”8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 3596 – Implementation of a Sentence of Death Because Massachusetts does not have the death penalty and prescribes no method, a court would need to designate another state’s law. The federal government adopted a lethal-injection protocol using pentobarbital in 2019, and 13 federal executions were carried out under it between July 2020 and January 2021.11Federal Register. Request for Information Regarding the Use of Pentobarbital in Federal Executions The February 2025 Attorney General memorandum directed the Office of Legal Policy to evaluate whether to readopt that protocol and to consider other methods.7Office of the Attorney General. Reviving the Federal Death Penalty and Lifting the Moratorium on Federal Executions Federal executions have historically taken place at USP Terre Haute.12Federal Bureau of Prisons. Federal Executions
For now, Tsarnaev remains at ADX Florence, under a federal death sentence, with his fate tied to a juror bias investigation that could still send the penalty question back to a new jury.