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

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

A Sobering Count: Nearly 50 Deaths in a Single Year

Exactly 47 individuals—all of whom were male—were executed by states maintaining the death penalty this year. This figure is nearly twice the count from the previous year, marking the most active period 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 schedule executions in search of diminishing political benefits."

An International Exception

This pronounced rise further isolates the US from most other developed nations, very few of which continue the practice. In recent years, only a handful of Asian nations have carried out executions among similarly developed states.

A Public Opinion Divide

The comeback of executions clashes directly with broader patterns and current public sentiment. For years, the use of the death penalty had been in a steady decrease. Meanwhile, surveys indicate support for capital punishment for those convicted of murder has reached a half-century low, with 52% of Americans in favor. Most of citizens 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 "Restoring the Death Penalty." This order aimed to guarantee that statutes permitting 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," remarked a well-known activist against executions.

A Surge in State Executions

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

Together with Alabama, South Carolina, and Texas, these four states were the source of almost 75% of all executions this year. In total, 12 states employed their execution facilities, up from nine in 2024.

Evolving Methods

As activity increased, some states turned to increasingly extreme techniques. Louisiana concluded a 15-year hiatus and followed another state's lead to use nitrogen hypoxia as an means of execution. Observers reported the prisoner visibly shook for several minutes during the procedure.

Meanwhile, South Carolina carried out the initial use by a squad of shooters 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.

The Supreme Court's Role

The increase in death sentences carried out is also linked to the position of the US Supreme Court. The majority-conservative bench rejected all applications to stay an execution in 2025, a notable demonstration of reluctance to intervene.

This represents a shift from the court's historical role as a last resort for appeals based on claims of innocence, rights-based arguments, or allegations of cruel punishment. "The system now functions without a safety net," noted a legal scholar. "The judiciary are supposed to serve as a final check, but that stop gap has been removed."