American Executions Surged in the Past Year to Highest Level in Over a Decade and a Half.

The number of state-sanctioned killings in the US has sharply risen in 2025, hitting a level not seen in since 2009. This sharp uptick is linked to a focused campaign to revive judicial killings, combined with a significant change in the stance of the US Supreme Court toward eleventh-hour pleas.

A Sobering Count: 47 Executions in a Single Year

Exactly 47 individuals—each one were male—were executed by states maintaining the death penalty in 2025. This figure is nearly twice the total from the previous year, constituting the highest annual total for capital punishment in the country in 16 years.

"The evidence shows 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 most other advanced economies, almost none of which still carry out executions. In recent years, only a handful of Asian nations have carried out capital punishment among peer countries.

A Public Opinion Divide

The comeback of state killings clashes directly with long-term trends and modern public opinion. For years, the use of the death penalty had been in gradual decline. Meanwhile, polling indicate support for capital punishment for those convicted of murder has reached a half-century low, with 52% of Americans in favor. Most of adults under the age of 55 now are against it.

Presidential Influence

On his inauguration day back in office, the sitting President issued an presidential directive titled "Reinstating Capital Punishment." This order sought to ensure that laws authorizing capital punishment were "upheld and properly enforced," 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.

State-Level Frenzy

The federal push was echoed and intensified at the level of individual states. The state of Florida became a notable extreme case, conducting 19 executions in 2025—a staggering increase from just one the previous year. This broke the state's prior annual record.

Together with several other southern states, these four states were the source of almost 75% of all deaths this year. Overall, a dozen states actively used their death chambers, up from nine in 2024.

Evolving Methods

As activity increased, some states adopted more controversial methods. Louisiana ended a 15-year hiatus and became the second state to employ nitrogen gas as an execution method. Witnesses reported the condemned individual convulsed for multiple minutes during the process.

In another development, South Carolina carried out the initial use by firing squad in the US since 2010, deploying this approach for three of its five executions this year. Reports suggested that in an instance, faulty targeting may have prolonged suffering for the condemned.

The Supreme Court's Role

The surge in death sentences carried out is also linked to the position of the US Supreme Court. The court's conservative majority rejected all applications to halt an execution in 2025, a rare display of judicial disengagement.

This represents a shift from the court's historical role as a last resort for legal challenges based on innocence claims, rights-based arguments, or charges of excessive cruelty. "The system now functions lacking a crucial backup," commented a law professor. "The judiciary are meant to act as a final check, but that safeguard has been removed."