An increase in U.S. executions in 2025 coincided with a decrease in public support for the death penalty, according to a nonprofit organization that provides data and analysis on issues concerning capital punishment.
The Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC) said in its year-end report that 47 people were executed nationwide in 2025 — the highest total in more than 15 years — even as polls registered historically low support for capital punishment and rising doubts about its fairness.
DPIC's report describes what it calls "divergent and contradictory" trends: Executions surged, driven largely by Florida, while new death sentences and death-row populations continued to decline.
Florida alone carried out 19 executions, about 40% of the national total, making the state an extreme outlier compared with the rest of the country.
At the same time, DPIC highlighted what it considers a powerful measure of shifting attitudes.
Capital juries increasingly refused to impose death, even when jurors were screened to exclude people categorically opposed to the punishment.
DPIC found 56% of juries asked to choose between life and death rejected death, and only about 14–15 juries nationwide reached unanimity for a death sentence in more than 50 capital trials.
Public polling mirrors that trend.
The Gallup October 2025 survey found support for the death penalty fell to 52%, a five-decade low, while opposition climbed to 44%, the highest since 1966.
Support has steadily declined from its 1994 peak of 80%, driven in part by falling approval among younger Americans, independents, and Democrats.
Catholic News Agency reported that 2025 also saw expanded use of controversial execution methods, including nitrogen gas in Louisiana and Alabama, and firing squads in South Carolina — developments critics say raise new ethical and constitutional concerns.
CNA also noted the U.S. Supreme Court denied every request to stay an execution in 2025, while several state legislatures pushed bills to expand eligibility and reduce appeals.
Nitrogen gas executions, in particular, have drawn scrutiny after reports of prolonged deaths.
In one widely covered case, Alabama executed Anthony Boyd using nitrogen, and witnesses described visible distress during the process.
The crosscurrents underscore the deeper question of whether a justice system should prioritize the certainty of punishment and public safety, or whether states should pursue executions even as the practice becomes rarer in courtrooms and less popular with the public.
Gallup’s numbers also reveal a sharp partisan split.
Republicans remain strongly supportive, while Democrats and independents have shifted away.
That suggests going into 2026, the debate will increasingly hinge on generational change, questions of fairness, and whether states can justify expanding capital punishment while the public's confidence erodes.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.