Six death row inmates have been executed in the U.S. so far this year, compared to two by this time last year.
Robin Maher, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, told Newsweek that the numbers don’t necessarily indicate that executions are on the rise.
“Given the executions that we have scheduled throughout the remainder of 2025, we would end up pretty close to where we were last year for the total number of executions,” Maher said.
There are currently 13 upcoming executions scheduled for this year. Maher noted that it is “likely” that additional executions will be scheduled.
Why It Matters
The death penalty is utilized as a form of criminal punishment in 27 states. This includes California, Pennsylvania, Oregon and Ohio, where governors have currently placed executions on hold.
Maher said there is a “growing discomfort” with the death penalty.
“Public opinion now remains at a five-decade low, with barely 53 percent of people who say they are in favor of the death penalty and a growing number of people who oppose it,” Maher said.
The level of support also varies across generations. Less than half of millennial and Gen Z adults support capital punishment.
What To Know
In 2024, 25 death row inmates were executed in nine states.
The number of executions each year has remained under 30 for nearly a decade.
“If you look back a number of years, you can see a much higher number of executions,” Maher said. “In 2009, we had 52 executions, and that number has been decreasing almost every year, with a few variations over the years, particularly affected by the pandemic.”
The largely downward trend in executions can be attributed to multiple factors, according to Maher.
“One is we have seen a number of people who are innocent, wrongfully convicted and released from death row,” Maher said. “And I think the specter of innocent people being sentenced to death has really changed public opinion.”
Maher said there is also public disapproval of botched executions, sentencing individuals with mental illness to death and the amount of money spent on executions.
What People Are Saying
Maher, in an interview with Newsweek: “I think people have also objected to the increased amount of money that is being spent to prop up the death penalty system and secure executions. Taxpayers are increasingly saying that they would like to have those taxpayer dollars spent on other priorities, like hospitals and schools and infrastructure.”
What Happens Next
The next execution is scheduled for Thursday in Texas. David Leonard Wood is expected to be killed by lethal injection. The El Paso Times wrote of Wood and his victims, “A shock wave struck El Paso in the late 1980s as nine women and girls disappeared. A serial killer had buried six of his victims in shallow desert graves in Northeast El Paso. Three of the girls remain missing to this day.”
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