2025 saw the highest number of executions in the U.S. since 2009, driven by state secrecy laws, alternative execution methods, a conservative Supreme Court, and political shifts, according to a New York Times editorial. The rise starkly contrasts with global trends towards abolition.

States like Florida, which executed 19 people last year (up from a modern-era high of 8 in 2014), exemplify the trend. Florida's laws grant the governor broad execution authority, and Governor Ron DeSantis has already signed five death warrants this year. This surge occurs despite evidence of systemic flaws: disproportionate impacts on the poor, intellectually disabled, and people of color; botched executions like the 30-minute death throes of Anthony Boyd in Alabama; and unreliable evidence leading to exonerations of over 200 death row inmates since 1973.

Secrecy laws are a key driver, blocking journalists from witnessing executions and hiding details of drug procurement. States like Indiana now prohibit execution observation. These laws aim to minimize public backlash against increasingly grotesque methods, including firing squads, which recently failed to kill Mikal Mahdi in South Carolina, causing prolonged suffering.

A conservative Supreme Court, indifferent to execution horrors, has made it harder to challenge death sentences. Its recent decisions rejecting appeals have prioritized expediency over justice, increasing the risk of killing innocent people. This shift, combined with President Trump's enthusiastic support and the Republican Party's embrace of the death penalty, has fueled the resurgence, making the U.S. an outlier among democracies executing people.

This editorial argues the death penalty is indefensible, a form of vengeance that fails to deter crime and mimics the worst of society. It calls for abolition, noting most of the world has already rejected it.