U.S. Execution Trends in 2025
Executions in the United States nearly doubled in 2025 compared to the previous year, with Florida conducting a record number of executions. The Death Penalty Information Center (DPI) released its year-end report on Monday, outlining these trends.
National Overview
According to the DPI report, states conducted 46 executions by the time of the report's release. This marks an increase from 25 executions in 2024. Two additional executions were scheduled for later in the week in Georgia and Florida, which would bring the total to 48. This total would represent the highest number of executions in over 15 years.
Public support for the death penalty, as measured by a Gallup poll in October, registered at 52% in favor for persons convicted of murder, which is the lowest recorded since 1972.
Florida's Role
Florida was responsible for 19 of the 46 national executions completed or scheduled for 2025, accounting for approximately 40% of the nationwide total. This figure established a new record for Florida's most executions in a single year, surpassing its previous record of eight in 2014.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis stated in November that execution delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic had been resolved. He commented on the importance of ensuring the death penalty is carried out "smoothly and promptly" for victims' families, citing the long duration of some cases dating back to the 1980s. Governor DeSantis also expressed the view that the death penalty serves as a "strong deterrent" to crime and is an "appropriate punishment for the worst offenders."
One scheduled execution in Florida for Thursday involved Frank Walls, 58, who was sentenced to death for the 1987 murders of Edward Alger and Ann Peterson during a home invasion robbery. Walls had also confessed to three other killings.
Beyond Florida, Alabama, South Carolina, and Texas each conducted five executions, marking the second-highest state totals.
Concerns Regarding Executed Individuals
The DPI report indicated that at least 40 death row prisoners executed or scheduled for execution in 2025 presented what the DPI described as "vulnerabilities." These included brain damage, serious mental illness, severe childhood trauma, or IQ scores within the intellectually disabled range. The DPI noted that many of these individuals might not be sentenced to death under current legal and societal understandings.
In 2002, the Supreme Court ruled that executing individuals with intellectual disabilities violated the Eighth Amendment as cruel and unusual punishment, while allowing states to define their own assessment procedures. The Supreme Court is currently reviewing how states should utilize IQ test results in evaluating mental capacity. Advocacy groups for individuals with disabilities have voiced concerns that a narrow interpretation of IQ scores could lead to more executions of individuals with intellectual disabilities.
Furthermore, 10 veterans were executed in 2025, marking the highest number in nearly two decades, compared to three in the previous year. The report highlighted the case of Jeffrey Hutchinson, executed in May for murders committed in 1998. His legal team argued that Hutchinson suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and a traumatic brain injury sustained during service in the Gulf War. The DPI suggested that juries might not have received adequate information regarding the impact of military service on some veterans' physical or psychological conditions.
Decline in New Death Sentences
The number of new death sentences continued a downward trend, with 22 individuals receiving new death sentences in 2025, a significant decrease from 139 in 2005. New death sentences were imposed in eight states: Florida, California, Alabama, Texas, North Carolina, Arizona, Missouri, and Pennsylvania.
The report attributed the decline in new death sentences to several factors, including prosecutors pursuing capital punishment less frequently due to the associated high costs and lengthy legal processes, and a stated reluctance among jurors to impose death sentences.