John F. Kennedy

====Crime====
{{further|Presidency of John F. Kennedy#Crime}}
Under the leadership of the attorney general, the Kennedy administration shifted the focus of the Justice Department, the FBI, and the IRS to [[organized crime]]. Kennedy won congressional approval for five bills (i.e., [[Federal Wire Act]] of 1961) designed to crack down on interstate [[Racket (crime)|racketeering]], gambling, and the transportation of firearms.<ref>{{Cite journal | last=Schwartz | first=David | date=September 2010 | title=Not Undertaking the Almost-Impossible Task: The 1961 Wire Act's Development, Initial Applications, and Ultimate Purpose | journal=Gaming Law Review and Economics | volume=14 | issue=7 | pages=533–540 | doi=10.1089/glre.2010.14708 | url=https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1120&context=lib_articles | access-date=November 19, 2023 | archive-date=October 1, 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231001033310/https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1120&context=lib_articles | url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Rothchild |first1=John A. |title=Research Handbook on Electronic Commerce Law |date=2016 |publisher=Edward Elgar Publishing Limited |page=453 |isbn=9781783479924 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=r_MCDQAAQBAJ&dq=Robert+Kennedy+Wire+Act,+Travel+Act,+and+Interstate+Transportation+of+Paraphernalia+Act&pg=PA453 |access-date=November 19, 2023 |archive-date=November 18, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231118163351/https://books.google.com/books?id=r_MCDQAAQBAJ&dq=Robert%20Kennedy%20Wire%20Act%2C%20Travel%20Act%2C%20and%20Interstate%20Transportation%20of%20Paraphernalia%20Act&pg=PA453 |url-status=live }}</ref>

On March 22, 1962, Kennedy signed into law a bill abolishing the mandatory death penalty for [[First degree murder in the United States|first degree murder]] in the District of Columbia, the only remaining jurisdiction in the United States with such a penalty.<ref name="JFKlibrary.org leg">{{cite web | url = http://www.jfklibrary.org/Research/Research-Aids/Ready-Reference/Legislative-Summary-Main-Page/District-of-Columbia.aspx | title = Legislative Summary: District of Columbia | access-date = June 8, 2015 | publisher = [[John F. Kennedy Presidential Library]] | archive-date = May 29, 2015 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150529072333/http://www.jfklibrary.org/Research/Research-Aids/Ready-Reference/Legislative-Summary-Main-Page/District-of-Columbia.aspx | url-status = live }}</ref> The death penalty has not been applied in D.C. since 1957 and has now been abolished.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.norton.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=478 | title = Norton Letter to U.S. Attorney Says Death Penalty Trial That Begins Today Part of Troubling and Futile Pattern | date = January 8, 2007 | access-date = February 23, 2012 | publisher = Office of Congresswoman [[Eleanor Holmes Norton]] | archive-date = March 3, 2012 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120303111530/http://www.norton.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=478 | url-status = dead }}</ref>