CREATORS
October 21, 2025
As of this
writing, there have been 39 executions this year. That is a substantial
increase over last year, and for that matter, over the last decade. The last
time there were more than 30 executions in a single year was 2014.
Is this
proof that support for the death penalty is growing? Hardly, executions are a
lagging indicator of past support, while new death sentences and public opinion
polls are a better barometer of current sentiment.
Why is an
uptick in executions not an indicator of surging support for the death penalty?
The 39 people executed this year were convicted long ago. The average stay on
death row for those put to death so far in 2025 was 25.6 years.
More
telling is the number of new death sentences each year. The number of death
sentences imposed in the United States has declined significantly since a peak
in 1996, when 316 death sentences were handed down. As of June 30, juries
across the country imposed only 10 death penalty sentences. In recent years,
the numbers have remained near record lows, with 26 new death sentences in
2024, 21 in 2023 and 18 in both 2022 and 2021.
What are
Americans saying about the death penalty? According to an October 2024 Gallup
poll, support for capital punishment was at a five-decade low in the United
States. Overall, Gallup found 53% of Americans in favor of the death penalty,
but that number masks considerable differences between older and younger
Americans.
According
to the Death Penalty Information Center, more than half of young adults aged 18
to 43 now oppose the death penalty. Among those expressing political
affiliation, support for the death penalty fell markedly in all groups and in
all generations, with the exception of Republicans aged 60 and older, where
support for the death penalty rose by two percent.
In spite of the declining support for the death penalty, on Jan. 20, 2025, President Donald Trump's first day in office, the White House issued a proclamation that included the following, "The Government's most solemn responsibility is to protect its citizens from abhorrent acts, and my Administration will not tolerate efforts to stymie and eviscerate the laws that authorize capital punishment against those who commit horrible acts of violence against American citizens."
The White
House's position demonstrates the divide in this country regarding
state-sponsored death. This year's executions are concentrated in the South.
All but three executions were carried out in the South. Florida, Texas, Alabama
and South Carolina account for 27 of the 39 executions.
In
addition, every state that carried out an execution so far this year voted for
Trump in 2024.
According
to the Death Penalty Information Center, half of all U.S. states have abolished
the death penalty or currently prohibit executions. In fact, 32 states have
either abolished the death penalty or have not carried out an execution in more
than a decade.
Clearly,
outside the red states below the Mason-Dixon line the death penalty is slowly
but surely falling out of favor.
Examining
the death penalty in America's largest state provides some perspective on
today's death penalty. Since capital punishment was reinstated in California in
1978, thirteen condemned inmates have been executed. During those 45 years, 166
death row inmates have died from natural causes, suicide, drug overdoses or
undetermined causes.
The
absurdity of the death penalty doesn't end there. In Pennsylvania, where there
are just under 100 men on death row, only three men have been executed in more
than 45 years. The dysfunction of Pennsylvania's death penalty has caused
Governor Josh Shapiro to reevaluate his position. Shapiro, a former state
attorney general, has come out against the death penalty: "At its core,
for me, this is a fundamental statement of morality, of what's right and wrong
in my humble opinion."
Matthew T.
Mangino is of counsel with Luxenberg, Garbett, Kelly & George P.C. His book
The Executioner's Toll, 2010 was released by McFarland Publishing. You can
reach him at www.mattmangino.com and follow him on Twitter @MatthewTMangino
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