US Executions Skyrocketed in the Past Year to Peak in Over a Decade and a Half.
The number of state-sanctioned killings in the United States has dramatically increased in 2025, reaching a level not seen in since 2009. This surge is linked to a concerted push to reinvigorate judicial killings, coupled with a notable shift in the stance of the US Supreme Court toward last-minute appeals.
A Sobering Count: 47 Executions in a Single Year
Exactly 47 men—all of whom were male—were executed by states maintaining the death penalty in 2025. This number represents nearly twice the total from 2024, marking the highest annual total for executions in the United States in 16 years.
"The evidence shows that the death penalty in 2025 is increasingly unpopular with the American people even as politicians schedule executions in search of waning political benefits."
An International Exception
This pronounced rise further isolates the US from most other developed nations, almost none 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 comeback of state killings stands in stark contrast with long-term trends and current public sentiment. Over the past two decades, the use of the death penalty had been in gradual decline. Meanwhile, surveys indicate approval of capital punishment for murder convictions has fallen to a 50-year low, with 52% of respondents in favor. Most of adults under the age of 55 now are against it.
Executive Action Sets the Tone
On his first day back in office, the sitting President issued an presidential directive titled "Reinstating Capital Punishment." This order aimed to ensure that statutes permitting capital punishment were "respected and faithfully implemented," signaling a major shift from the previous presidency.
"It’s in the air, it’s in the national rhetoric sent down from the top—you use violence and cruelty to solve social problems," stated a well-known anti-death penalty advocate.
A Surge in State Executions
The federal push was echoed and amplified at the state level. The state of Florida became a notable outlier, conducting 19 executions in 2025—a staggering increase from just one the previous year. This shattered the state's prior annual record.
Alongside Alabama, South Carolina, and Texas, these a quartet of jurisdictions were responsible for almost three-quarters of all executions this year. Overall, 12 states employed their death chambers, up from nine states in 2024.
Evolving Methods
As activity increased, some states adopted increasingly extreme methods. Louisiana ended a long period without executions and became the second state to employ nitrogen hypoxia as an execution method. Observers reported the condemned individual convulsed for multiple minutes during the process.
Meanwhile, a different state performed the first execution by firing squad in the US since 2010, using this method for three of its five executions this year. Reports suggested that in one case, faulty targeting may have prolonged suffering for the condemned.
The Supreme Court's Role
The increase in death sentences carried out is also linked to the position of the US Supreme Court. The court's conservative majority rejected all applications to stay an execution in 2025, a rare display of reluctance to intervene.
This marks a change from the court's traditional function as a final avenue for legal challenges based on innocence claims, constitutional arguments, or allegations of cruel punishment. "We’re now operating lacking a crucial backup," noted a legal scholar. "Federal courts are meant to act as a backstop, but that safeguard has been eviscerated."
