The Death Penalty in 2025: Majority of Capital Juries in 2025 Rejected Death Sentences

This week the Death Penalty Information Center published their year-end report, reinforcing the fact that the increase in executions is out-of-step with public views on the death penalty. Most juries that faced a decision whether to impose a death sentence this year rejected capital punishment.

Even in states willing to carry out executions, new capital sentences are down. Nearly three-quarters of executions (72%*) took place in just four states – Florida, Alabama, South Carolina, and Texas. But juries in those states were reluctant to impose death. South Carolina had no capital trials at all, while the other three saw a majority of capital juries opt for life sentences. Across the country, only 14* juries unanimously recommended death.

Pennsylvania is highlighted both as an example of misconduct and a state working toward abolition.

“Two defen­dants in Pennsylvania fac­ing cap­i­tal charges in alleged Shaken Baby Syndrome cas­es filed a peti­tion before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court alleg­ing that Washington County District Attorney Jason Walsh has demon­strat­ed a pat­tern of improp­er­ly threat­en­ing or seek­ing death sen­tences in vio­la­tion of the United States Constitution and the Pennsylvania Constitution. The peti­tion not only impli­cates the debunked sci­ence of SBS but also rais­es seri­ous alle­ga­tions of prosecutorial misconduct.”

“Bills seek­ing to abol­ish the death penal­ty were intro­duced in 12 states with the death penal­ty (Arizona, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri, Nebraska, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, and Texas), but none were enact­ed into law.”

* includes executions scheduled for December 17 (GA) and 18 (FL)