Christa Pike's lawyers in court after failed execution of US death row inmate
Following a rise in executions in 2025 and 2026, legal experts are examining the impact of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis's policies on the death penalty. The state has become a national outlier due to legislative changes that lowered the threshold for capital punishment.
Why it matters
The shift in Florida's execution rates highlights a significant divergence in state-level application of capital punishment under the current federal administration.
President Donald Trump has long been a major supporter of the death penalty, describing capital punishment as "an essential tool for deterring and punishing those who would commit the most heinous crimes and acts of lethal violence against American citizens".
In 2020, during his first term, he ended a nearly two-decade moratorium on the federal death penalty, by ordering 13 executions over a six month period.
While the moratorium returned under President Biden, on the first day of Trump's second term in 2025, he signed an executive order that re-instated the death penalty.
There were a total of 47 executions across 11 states in 2025, a marked increase from the 25 executions carried out in 2024.
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