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, reaching a level not seen in since 2009. This sharp uptick is attributed to a concerted push to reinvigorate the death penalty, combined with a notable shift in the stance of the US Supreme Court toward last-minute appeals.

A Grim Tally: 47 Executions in a Single Year

Exactly 47 men—each one were male—were executed by states maintaining the death penalty in 2025. This figure represents nearly double the total from the previous year, marking the most active period for executions in the United States in 16 years.

"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."

An International Exception

This pronounced rise further isolates the United States from nearly all other developed nations, almost none of which still carry out executions. In recent years, just Japan, Singapore, and Taiwan have conducted executions among similarly developed states.

A Public Opinion Divide

The comeback of executions clashes directly with broader patterns and modern public opinion. Over the past two decades, the use of the death penalty had been in a steady decrease. Meanwhile, surveys indicate support for capital punishment for murder convictions has reached a half-century low, with 52% of Americans in favor. A majority of citizens under the age of 55 now oppose it.

Executive Action Sets the Tone

On his inauguration day back in office, the sitting President issued an executive order titled "Restoring the Death Penalty." This order aimed to guarantee that laws authorizing capital punishment were "upheld and properly enforced," marking a clear change from the prior administration.

"It’s in the air, it’s in the national rhetoric sent down from the top—the idea is to use harsh measures to solve social problems," remarked a well-known anti-death penalty advocate.

State-Level Frenzy

The federal push was mirrored and amplified at the level of individual states. Florida emerged as a notable outlier, conducting 19 executions in 2025—a dramatic increase from just one the year before. This broke the state's previous record.

Together with Alabama, South Carolina, and Texas, these a quartet of jurisdictions were responsible for almost 75% of all deaths this year. In total, 12 states actively used their execution facilities, up from nine states in 2024.

Evolving Methods

As more executions occurred, some states adopted more controversial methods. One state concluded a long period without executions and became the second state to employ nitrogen hypoxia as an execution method. Witnesses reported the condemned individual convulsed for several minutes during the procedure.

Meanwhile, a different state performed the first execution by a squad of shooters in the US since 2010, using this method for three of its total executions this year. Accounts suggested that in one case, imprecise aim may have prolonged suffering for the condemned.

The Supreme Court's Role

The surge in death sentences carried out is also connected to the posture of the US Supreme Court. The court's conservative majority denied every request to halt an execution in 2025, a rare display of reluctance to intervene.

This represents a shift 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 lacking a crucial backup," noted a legal scholar. "The judiciary are supposed to serve as a backstop, but that stop gap has been eviscerated."