US Capital Punishment Cases Skyrocketed in the Past Year to Highest Level in Over a Decade and a Half.
The count of executions in the US has sharply risen in 2025, hitting a rate not seen in since 2009. This surge is linked to a focused campaign to reinvigorate judicial killings, coupled with a significant change in the stance of the US Supreme Court toward eleventh-hour pleas.
A Grim Tally: Nearly 50 Deaths in a Single Year
A total of 47 men—all of whom were male—were executed by individual states that utilize the death penalty this year. This figure is nearly twice the total from the previous year, marking the highest annual total for capital punishment in the country since 2009.
"Data indicates that the death penalty in 2025 is growing less popular with the American people even as politicians carry out death sentences in search of diminishing political benefits."
A Global Outlier
This sharp increase further separates the US from nearly all other advanced economies, very few of which still carry out executions. In recent years, only a handful of Asian nations have conducted capital punishment among similarly developed states.
Contradictory Trends
The comeback of executions clashes directly with broader patterns and current public sentiment. For years, the use of the death penalty had been in gradual decline. At the same time, polling indicate approval of capital punishment for those convicted of murder has fallen to a 50-year low, with just over half of respondents in favor. Most of citizens under the age of 55 now oppose it.
Presidential Influence
On his inauguration day back in office, the sitting 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," 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 prominent activist against executions.
State-Level Frenzy
The national initiative was echoed and amplified at the state level. The state of Florida became a particular extreme case, carrying out 19 executions in 2025—a staggering increase from just one the previous year. This shattered the state's prior annual record.
Together with Alabama, South Carolina, and Texas, these four states were responsible for almost 75% of all deaths this year. Overall, 12 states actively used their execution facilities, up from nine in 2024.
Evolving Methods
As activity increased, some states turned to increasingly extreme methods. One state ended a 15-year hiatus and became the second state to use nitrogen hypoxia as an execution method. Witnesses reported the prisoner convulsed for several minutes during the procedure.
In another development, South Carolina carried out the initial use by firing squad in the US since 2010, using this method for three of its five executions this year. Accounts suggested that in an instance, faulty targeting may have caused extended agony for the condemned.
A Changed Judicial Landscape
The increase in death sentences carried out is also linked to the position of the nation's highest court. The court's conservative majority denied every request to halt an execution in 2025, a rare display of judicial disengagement.
This represents a shift from the court's traditional function as a final avenue for legal challenges based on claims of innocence, rights-based arguments, or charges of excessive cruelty. "The system now functions without a safety net," noted a legal scholar. "The judiciary are supposed to serve as a backstop, but that stop gap has been eviscerated."