The U.S. is set to reach its highest number of death penalty executions since 2012.
So far this year, 34 prisoners have been executed, with another eight scheduled before the end of 2025.
It comes after U.S. President Donald Trump urged governors to enact the death penalty in response to drug crime earlier this year.
Death penalty
Courts in 27 of the 50 U.S. states have the power to sentence a person to death.
While state law permits capital punishment in California, Pennsylvania, Oregon, and Ohio, the governors for these states have indicated they will not pursue any executions during their terms.
The death penalty can also be ordered in federal court cases.
As President, Joe Biden introduced a pause on the death penalty for most federal cases.
Trump overturned this with an executive order on his first day in office.
The following month, he told a gathering of state governors to use the death penalty in drug cases.
“Your states have the right to go death penalty also for drug dealers,” he said.
“But only do that if you want to get rid of drugs.”
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2025
In 2024, 25 people were executed in the U.S.
The total number of executions this year is expected to reach 42 — the highest since 2012, when 43 prisoners were put to death.
The modern peak is 98 executions in one year, recorded in 1999.
Executions have been carried out in 10 states so far this year. Of the 34 executions, 76% were in four states: Florida, Texas, Alabama, and South Carolina.
While South Carolina carried out two executions by firing squad this year, the predominant mode of execution is lethal injection.
This generally involves a series of drugs injected into a person — a sedative, a paralysing drug, and one to stop the heart. Experts have criticised the process, pointing to numerous instances of it being botched, causing pain and distress.
Despite the uptick in executions, data from the Death Penalty Information Centre shows capital punishment declining in America. Approximately 2,100 people were on death row as of January 2025, downfrom 3,593 in 2000.
Florida
In 2024, Florida officials executed one person. This year, 13 inmates have been killed — the most of any state.
Robin Maher, the executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, told The Associated Press that Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is “scheduling all of these executions with complete autonomy and in complete secrecy.”
Two more Florida inmates are scheduled to be put to death before the year’s end.
