US Capital Punishment Cases Skyrocketed in the Past Year to Highest Level in 16 Years.

The number of executions in the US has sharply risen in 2025, hitting a level not seen in 16 years. This sharp uptick is attributed to a focused campaign to reinvigorate the death penalty, combined with a significant change in the approach of the nation's highest court toward last-minute appeals.

A Sobering Count: 47 Executions in a Single Year

A total of 47 individuals—all of whom were male—were put to death by individual states that utilize the death penalty in 2025. This figure is nearly double the count from 2024, marking the most active period for capital punishment in the United States since 2009.

"Data indicates that the death penalty in 2025 is increasingly unpopular with the public even as politicians carry out death sentences in search of waning political benefits."

An International Exception

This sharp increase further separates the US from nearly all other developed nations, very few of which still carry out executions. Currently, just Japan, Singapore, and Taiwan have conducted executions among peer countries.

A Public Opinion Divide

The comeback of executions clashes directly with long-term trends and current public sentiment. For years, the use of the death penalty had been in a steady decrease. 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 respondents in favor. Most of citizens under the age of 55 now oppose it.

Executive Action Sets the Tone

On his first day back in office, the President issued an executive order titled "Restoring the Death Penalty." This order sought to guarantee that statutes permitting capital punishment were "respected and faithfully implemented," signaling a major shift from the previous presidency.

"The tone is set, the national dialogue sent down from the top—you use violence and cruelty to solve social problems," remarked a prominent activist against executions.

A Surge in State Executions

The federal push was mirrored and intensified at the level of individual states. Florida emerged as a notable outlier, carrying out 19 executions in 2025—a dramatic increase from just one the previous year. This shattered the state's prior annual record.

Together with Alabama, South Carolina, and Texas, these a quartet of jurisdictions were the source of almost three-quarters of all executions this year. In total, a dozen states employed their death chambers, up from nine states in 2024.

More Extreme Execution Protocols

As activity increased, some states turned to more controversial methods. One state concluded a long period without executions and became the second state to employ nitrogen gas as an execution method. Observers reported the condemned individual convulsed for several minutes during the process.

Meanwhile, South Carolina performed the initial use by firing squad in the US since 2010, using this method for three of its total executions this year. Reports suggested that in one case, faulty targeting may have caused extended agony for the condemned.

A Changed Judicial Landscape

The surge in executions is also linked to the posture of the nation's highest court. The court's conservative majority rejected all applications to stay an execution in 2025, a notable demonstration of reluctance to intervene.

This represents a shift 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 without a safety net," commented a legal scholar. "Federal courts are supposed to serve as a backstop, but that safeguard has been removed."