At a Glance
- The death penalty is facing a steep decline in U.S. sentencing, with only 23 new death sentences in 2025.
- 56% of capital-jury cases this year rejected a death sentence, and public support fell to a 50-year low of 52%.
- President Trump is pushing federal executions, reversing Biden’s moratorium, while Florida’s executions jumped to 19 in 2025.
- Why it matters: The trend shows the death penalty’s future is uncertain, even as political pressure mounts.
A spate of high-profile killings in 2025-from a health-insurance CEO to a Hollywood director-has brought the death penalty into sharp focus. While President Trump pushes to revive federal executions, data from the Death Penalty Information Center shows a historic decline in death sentences, raising questions about the punishment’s viability.
High-Profile Deaths Spark Debate
The year began with the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson as he left a Midtown hotel for a conference. The killing of Luigi Mangione, a 26-year-old Maryland scion, was followed by the murders of Israeli embassy staff Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Lynn Milgrim, Minnesota lawmaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska, conservative activist Charlie Kirk, National Guard member Sarah Beckstrom, and Hollywood director Rob Reiner and producer wife Michele Singer Reiner. These cases have amplified scrutiny of capital punishment.
- UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson – murdered in Midtown
- Luigi Mangione – 26-year-old suspect
- Yaron Lischinsky & Sarah Lynn Milgrim – Israeli embassy staff
- Melissa Hortman & spouse – Minnesota lawmaker
- Iryna Zarutska – Ukrainian refugee
- Charlie Kirk – conservative activist
- Sarah Beckstrom – National Guard member
- Rob Reiner & Michele Singer Reiner – Hollywood director and wife
Federal Death Penalty Revival
In December 2024, President Biden commuted the sentences of 37 of the 40 federal death-row inmates to life in prison, leaving only three-two mass shooters and the Boston Marathon bomber’s brother-to face execution. Trump’s inauguration prompted Attorney General Pam Bondi to order the Department of Justice to pursue the death penalty in all qualifying cases. The DOJ has already signaled intent to seek capital punishment against Elias Rodriguez, Rahmanaullah Lakanwal, and Vance Boelter.
- Elias Rodriguez – accused of killing Israeli embassy staff
- Rahmanaullah Lakanwal – charged with killing National Guard member
- Vance Boelter – charged with killing former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband
State-Level Trends and Florida’s Surge
State executions fell in more than half of the 27 states that still allow capital punishment, yet the national total reached a 15-year high. Florida alone carried out 19 of the 47 executions in 2025, a dramatic jump from 25 in 2024. Governor Ron DeSantis has not explained the surge, and the state’s Supreme Court upheld a 2023 law permitting non-unanimous 8-4 jury verdicts to sentence death.
| State | 2024 Executions | 2025 Executions |
|---|---|---|
| Florida | 25 | 19 |
| National | 47 | 47 |
The ACLU, which represents a defendant challenging the law, said in a statement last week it would seek review from the U.S. Supreme Court. Governor DeSantis himself, in his sole authority, has selected who will be executed this year and assigned those death warrants, but has not given a meaningful explanation for the jump from a single execution last year to 19 this year.
Public Opinion and Expert Analysis
According to a recent News Of Austin report, 23 new death sentences were approved in 2025, down from 26 in 2024, and the trend has declined from 49 in 2015 and 139 in 2005. The Death Penalty Information Center noted that 56% of capital-jury cases rejected the death penalty, while Gallup’s 2025 deep dive found support at 52%, a 50-year low.
Corinna Lain said:
> “Executions are a fairly accurate reflection of a country’s taste for retribution and taste for vengeance,” said Corinna Lain, a University of Richmond law professor and author of Secrets of the Killing State: the Untold Story of Lethal Injection.
Corinna Lain continued:
> “But if you want to know where the death penalty is going – if you want to know the death penalty’s future – it’s not executions that you look at. That marks a particular moment in time. What you look at to determine the death penalty’s future is death sentencing.”
Robin Maher said:
> “I think what the American people are saying is that they are not getting what they believed they would receive from this bargain, and increasingly, they are rejecting the death penalty as an answer to violent crime.”
Robin Maher added:
> “And, if history is any guide, it’s going to be extremely difficult to do that.”
Corinna Lain warned:
> “Today’s death sentences are tomorrow’s executions, and without new death sentences feeding the machinery of death, the death penalty will just die on the vine.”
Political Pressure vs. Judicial Reality
Trump’s long-standing advocacy for capital punishment-dating back to a 1989 full-page ad campaign-has resurfaced with the goal of reviving federal executions. However, the DOJ’s pursuit of death sentences in high-profile cases may not translate into convictions, as the 56% jury rejection rate suggests. Lain cautions that politics may not override the jury’s decision.
Key Takeaways
- The death penalty’s future is uncertain, with a historic decline in new sentences.
- Political pressure from President Trump is pushing for federal executions, but state and federal outcomes remain mixed.
- Public support for executions has fallen to a 50-year low, and most capital-jury cases reject death sentences.
In a year of high-profile killings and shifting political tides, the death penalty remains a contested and evolving issue, with data pointing toward a gradual decline even as political forces push for its revival.
