🔗 Share this article US Executions Surged in the Past Year to Highest Level in 16 Years. The number of executions in the US has sharply risen in 2025, reaching a level not seen in since 2009. This sharp uptick is attributed to a focused campaign to revive the death penalty, combined with a significant change in the stance of the nation's highest court toward last-minute appeals. A Grim Tally: 47 Executions in a Single Year Exactly 47 men—all of whom were male—were put to death by states that utilize the death penalty in 2025. This number represents nearly twice the total from the previous year, constituting the most active period for executions in the country since 2009. "The evidence shows that the death penalty in 2025 is growing less popular with the public even as politicians schedule executions in search of waning political benefits." A Global Outlier This sharp increase further isolates the United States from nearly all other developed nations, very few of which continue the practice. In recent years, only a handful of Asian nations have carried out capital punishment among peer countries. A Public Opinion Divide The resurgence of state killings stands in stark contrast with long-term trends and modern public opinion. For years, the use of the death penalty had been in a steady decrease. At the same time, polling indicate approval of capital punishment for those convicted of murder has reached a half-century low, with just over half of Americans in favor. Most of citizens under the age of 55 now oppose it. Executive Action Sets the Tone On his inauguration day back in office, the President issued an executive order titled "Restoring the Death Penalty." This order sought to ensure that laws authorizing capital punishment were "respected and faithfully implemented," marking a clear change from the prior administration. "The tone is set, the national dialogue sent down from the top—you use violence and cruelty to solve social problems," stated a well-known activist against executions. State-Level Frenzy The national initiative was echoed and intensified at the state level. The state of Florida emerged as a particular extreme case, conducting 19 executions in 2025—a dramatic increase from just one the previous year. This broke the state's previous record. Alongside several other southern states, these a quartet of jurisdictions were the source of almost 75% of all deaths this year. In total, 12 states employed their execution facilities, up from nine states in 2024. Evolving Methods As more executions occurred, some states turned to increasingly extreme techniques. One state ended a long period without executions and followed another state's lead to employ nitrogen gas as an means of execution. Witnesses reported the prisoner convulsed for several minutes during the process. Meanwhile, a different state carried out the first execution by a squad of shooters in the US since 2010, deploying this approach for three of its five executions this year. Reports suggested that in one case, faulty targeting may have prolonged suffering for the condemned. A Changed Judicial Landscape The increase in death sentences carried out is also connected to the position of the nation's highest court. The court's conservative majority rejected all applications to stay an execution in 2025, a rare display of reluctance to intervene. This represents a shift from the court's historical role as a final avenue for legal challenges based on claims of innocence, constitutional arguments, or charges of excessive cruelty. "The system now functions without a safety net," commented a legal scholar. "Federal courts are supposed to serve as a backstop, but that stop gap has been removed."
The number of executions in the US has sharply risen in 2025, reaching a level not seen in since 2009. This sharp uptick is attributed to a focused campaign to revive the death penalty, combined with a significant change in the stance of the nation's highest court toward last-minute appeals. A Grim Tally: 47 Executions in a Single Year Exactly 47 men—all of whom were male—were put to death by states that utilize the death penalty in 2025. This number represents nearly twice the total from the previous year, constituting the most active period for executions in the country since 2009. "The evidence shows that the death penalty in 2025 is growing less popular with the public even as politicians schedule executions in search of waning political benefits." A Global Outlier This sharp increase further isolates the United States from nearly all other developed nations, very few of which continue the practice. In recent years, only a handful of Asian nations have carried out capital punishment among peer countries. A Public Opinion Divide The resurgence of state killings stands in stark contrast with long-term trends and modern public opinion. For years, the use of the death penalty had been in a steady decrease. At the same time, polling indicate approval of capital punishment for those convicted of murder has reached a half-century low, with just over half of Americans in favor. Most of citizens under the age of 55 now oppose it. Executive Action Sets the Tone On his inauguration day back in office, the President issued an executive order titled "Restoring the Death Penalty." This order sought to ensure that laws authorizing capital punishment were "respected and faithfully implemented," marking a clear change from the prior administration. "The tone is set, the national dialogue sent down from the top—you use violence and cruelty to solve social problems," stated a well-known activist against executions. State-Level Frenzy The national initiative was echoed and intensified at the state level. The state of Florida emerged as a particular extreme case, conducting 19 executions in 2025—a dramatic increase from just one the previous year. This broke the state's previous record. Alongside several other southern states, these a quartet of jurisdictions were the source of almost 75% of all deaths this year. In total, 12 states employed their execution facilities, up from nine states in 2024. Evolving Methods As more executions occurred, some states turned to increasingly extreme techniques. One state ended a long period without executions and followed another state's lead to employ nitrogen gas as an means of execution. Witnesses reported the prisoner convulsed for several minutes during the process. Meanwhile, a different state carried out the first execution by a squad of shooters in the US since 2010, deploying this approach for three of its five executions this year. Reports suggested that in one case, faulty targeting may have prolonged suffering for the condemned. A Changed Judicial Landscape The increase in death sentences carried out is also connected to the position of the nation's highest court. The court's conservative majority rejected all applications to stay an execution in 2025, a rare display of reluctance to intervene. This represents a shift from the court's historical role as a final avenue for legal challenges based on claims of innocence, constitutional arguments, or charges of excessive cruelty. "The system now functions without a safety net," commented a legal scholar. "Federal courts are supposed to serve as a backstop, but that stop gap has been removed."