In a year marked by sharp contrasts and growing controversy, executions in the United States surged to levels not seen in over a decade, even as public support for capital punishment continued its steady decline. According to the Death Penalty Information Center’s (DPI) annual report, released on December 15, 2025, the number of executions nearly doubled from 25 in 2024 to 46 in 2025—a figure poised to rise to 48 with two additional executions scheduled in Florida and Georgia before year’s end.
At the heart of this dramatic increase is Florida, which shattered its previous record by executing 19 individuals in 2025, accounting for a staggering 40% of all executions nationwide. This surge has drawn both national attention and deep concern, as it represents the highest number of executions carried out by a single state in a year, a feat previously matched only by Texas. As NPR reported, Alabama, South Carolina, and Texas each conducted five executions, meaning just four states were responsible for nearly three-quarters of all executions in the U.S. this year.
The timing of this uptick is no coincidence. The DPI and multiple news outlets, including El-Balad.com, have noted that the rise in executions coincides with the second term of President Donald Trump, a vocal proponent of capital punishment. Trump’s administration resumed federal executions after a hiatus, setting a tone that appears to have influenced state-level practices. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, a steadfast supporter of the death penalty, attributed the increase to clearing a backlog of cases delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic. “Justice delayed is justice denied,” DeSantis declared at a November press conference, emphasizing his belief that the death penalty serves as a strong deterrent for violent crime and is an appropriate punishment for the worst offenders.
Yet, the DPI’s report and subsequent analyses underscore a striking disconnect between legislative action and public sentiment. Robin Maher, executive director of the DPI, told The Intercept, “There is a huge disconnect between what the public wants and what elected officials are doing.” Gallup’s latest poll puts support for the death penalty at just 52%—the lowest since 1972 and a far cry from the levels seen in previous decades. Opposition is now at its highest since 1966. Despite this, lawmakers in 11 states and the U.S. Congress introduced bills in 2025 to expand capital punishment, including measures to allow the death penalty for non-lethal sex crimes in Arkansas, Idaho, and Oklahoma—despite Supreme Court rulings barring such punishments.
Florida’s legislative actions have been particularly aggressive. The state passed a bill authorizing “a method not deemed unconstitutional” for executions, and Idaho made death by firing squad its primary execution method. Arkansas approved the use of nitrogen gas, joining Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana, which conducted its first gas execution this year. These moves have raised fresh constitutional concerns and drawn criticism from advocacy groups, especially as new methods have sometimes resulted in prolonged suffering for those executed.
In Tennessee, executions resumed after a five-year hiatus and a review that revealed the state had failed to properly test execution drugs and follow its own procedures. The execution of Byron Black, for instance, was marred by reports of groaning and crying out, with an autopsy revealing pulmonary edema—a form of lung damage often associated with lethal injection. South Carolina, after winning a lengthy court battle, became the first state in 15 years to carry out a firing squad execution. But controversy erupted when an autopsy of Mikal Mahdi showed only two bullet wounds in his chest, both largely missing his heart, despite protocol requiring three shots to the heart. Witnesses reported hearing Mahdi scream and groan, prompting new lawsuits and questions about whether such executions violate the constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment.
Alabama’s foray into nitrogen executions has also been fraught with difficulty. Although state officials had promised that prisoners would lose consciousness within seconds and die within five minutes, the October execution of Anthony Boyd took nearly 40 minutes, with witnesses describing him rising off the gurney, shaking, and gasping for breath more than 225 times. Alabama prison commissioner John Hamm insisted the execution proceeded according to plan, but the lack of transparency around execution protocols has only fueled further skepticism.
Amid these troubling developments, the plight of vulnerable populations on death row has come into sharper focus. The DPI highlighted that at least 40 people executed in 2025 had significant mental health issues, intellectual disabilities, or histories of severe trauma. Ten of those executed were veterans—the highest number in nearly 20 years. The case of Jeffrey Hutchinson, a Gulf War veteran executed for multiple murders, exemplifies the concerns of advocacy groups who argue that juries often lack comprehensive information about defendants’ military service and psychological trauma. “Many would not or could not be sentenced to death today because of changes in the law and society’s understanding of the effects of mental illness and severe trauma,” Maher told NPR.
The trend toward more executions stands in stark contrast to the declining number of new death sentences. In 2025, only 22 people received new death sentences, continuing a decades-long downward trajectory. In 2005, that figure was 139. The new sentences came from just eight states: Florida, California, Alabama, Texas, North Carolina, Arizona, Missouri, and Pennsylvania. Prosecutors are increasingly reluctant to pursue the death penalty, given the high costs and lengthy appeals, and jurors are less willing to impose it.
Despite mounting evidence of flaws in the system and growing public discomfort, the Supreme Court did not grant a single stay of execution in 2025, even as constitutional concerns about execution methods proliferated. “We are seeing that many elected officials are just shamelessly putting out narratives that defy the witness observations of executions that have gone terribly wrong,” Maher remarked to The Intercept. “We need to have officials who are willing to tell the truth about the death penalty.” She added, “I don’t think we would have seen these experimental, untested methods used 20 years ago. Part of the explanation is because the United States Supreme Court has signaled very clearly that it does not intend to step in and halt use of these methods.”
As the nation closes out 2025, it finds itself at a crossroads: executions are up, public support is down, and the debate over the morality, legality, and efficacy of capital punishment is more contentious than ever. The disconnect between the will of the people and the actions of their elected officials has never been more stark—or more consequential.
