Legal Question in Constitutional Law in Texas

Re: death penalty

Each of the 50 states would have to independently enact laws which provide for the death penalty. This would generally be accomplished by passing a bill with a majority vote in both houses of the state legislature (except in Nebraska, which has a unicameral legislature) and then either obtaining the signature of the governor or overriding the governor's veto. Some states might require a supermajority vote while others might require a simple majority.

In some states, a ballot initiative can place the issue on a general election ballot so that the population can vote on it.

Putting death penalty laws into place would not be the end of the process. Defendants sentenced to death would be able to challenge the constitutionality of the laws in court, and statutes which were found to violate state or federal constitutions would be invalidated.

Keep in mind that enacting a death penalty requires more than passing a statute which says capital punishment is legal. There would have to be provisions specifying which crimes are punishable by death and under what circumstances; this would typically involve modifying numerous existing statutes. There would also have to be rules governing how judgments of death are sought and how executions are carried out.

Your question suggests that you might be looking for a way to compel states to adopt the death penalty, but this cannot be done. The federal government has no such authority. It could try to coerce the states by withholding federal funding unless the states enact such laws, but I do not think it is even remotely plausible that the federal government would try this.

There is a federal death penalty which is in effect nationwide, but only applies to defendants who are tried in federal courts for violations of the specific federal laws which carry the death penalty.