The number of state-sanctioned killings in the United States has sharply risen in 2025, reaching a rate not seen in 16 years. This sharp uptick is attributed to a concerted push to reinvigorate the death penalty, coupled with a notable shift in the approach of the US Supreme Court toward last-minute appeals.
A Sobering Count: Nearly 50 Deaths in a Single Year
Exactly 47 men—each one were male—were put to death by states maintaining the death penalty this year. This figure represents nearly twice the total from 2024, constituting the highest annual total for capital punishment 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 elected officials carry out death sentences in search of diminishing political benefits."
A Global Outlier
This pronounced rise further isolates the United States from nearly all other developed nations, very few of which still carry out executions. In recent years, just Japan, Singapore, and Taiwan have conducted capital punishment among peer countries.
A Public Opinion Divide
The comeback of state killings clashes directly with long-term trends and current public sentiment. Over the past two decades, the use of the death penalty had been in gradual decline. At the same time, polling indicate support for capital punishment for murder convictions has fallen to a 50-year low, with just over half of Americans in favor. A majority of adults under the age of 55 now oppose it.
Presidential Influence
On his first day back in office, the President issued an presidential directive 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 prominent activist against executions.
A Surge in State Executions
The federal push was echoed and intensified at the state level. Florida emerged as a particular outlier, carrying out 19 executions in 2025—a dramatic increase from just one the year before. This broke the state's previous record.
Alongside Alabama, South Carolina, and Texas, these a quartet of jurisdictions were the source of almost three-quarters of all executions this year. In total, 12 states employed their death chambers, up from nine states in 2024.
Evolving Methods
As more executions occurred, some states adopted more controversial techniques. Louisiana concluded a long period without executions and followed another state's lead to use nitrogen hypoxia as an execution method. Observers reported the condemned individual convulsed for multiple minutes during the process.
In another development, a different state performed 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, imprecise aim may have prolonged suffering for the individual.
A Changed Judicial Landscape
The increase in death sentences carried out is also linked to the posture of the US Supreme Court. The majority-conservative bench rejected all applications to halt an execution in 2025, a rare display of reluctance to intervene.
This marks a change from the court's traditional function as a last resort for legal challenges based on claims of innocence, constitutional arguments, or charges of excessive cruelty. "The system now functions without a safety net," noted a legal scholar. "Federal courts are supposed to serve as a backstop, but that stop gap has been eviscerated."
