In 2025, Florida executed more people than in any year since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976. In 2026 the pace has not slowed. Here is what is driving the surge, who has been executed, and why critics say the system has changed.
Florida’s Execution Surge
A record pace under Gov. Ron DeSantis
A record without precedent
In 2025, Florida carried out 19 executions — more than under any governor since the state reinstated capital punishment in 1976, and far beyond the previous modern record of eight in 2014. According to Amnesty International, Florida alone accounted for roughly 40 percent of all U.S. executions that year. In 2026, the state has continued at the same rate, with the ninth execution of the year carried out in late June and more death warrants already signed.
This concentration of executions in a single state, in a country where the death penalty is otherwise in long-term decline, is the central story. Below is how the surge has unfolded, and the legal and political factors behind it.
What changed in Florida law
Two legal shifts help explain the acceleration. First, after the U.S. Supreme Court’s Hurst v. Florida decision in 2016 briefly forced the state to require unanimous jury recommendations for death, Florida changed its law in 2023 to allow a death sentence on a jury vote of just 8–4 — one of the lowest thresholds in the nation. Second, the governor’s office has signed death warrants at a rapid and steady cadence, moving long-stalled cases toward execution. Together these changes reopened a pipeline that had moved slowly for years.
Cases we have documented
Among the executions carried out during this period, one we have covered in depth illustrates the human and legal questions the surge raises:
Dusty Ray Spencer — executed June 25, 2026, for the 1992 murder of his wife. At 74, he became the oldest person ever executed in Florida. A Marine Corps veteran sentenced on a 7–5 jury vote, his case crystallized concerns about age, health, and non-unanimous death sentences. Read the full Dusty Spencer case →
The arguments on both sides
Supporters of the state’s approach, including the governor’s office and the Florida Attorney General, argue that these executions carry out sentences that were lawfully imposed — often decades ago — and that delay had long denied victims’ families finality. Critics, including legal scholars and advocacy groups, argue that the pace raises the risk of executing people whose sentences rest on outdated legal standards, that the 8–4 jury rule makes Florida an outlier, and that the surge has swept in elderly, ill, and seriously mentally impaired defendants. The debate is less about any single case than about whether a system executing people this quickly can also execute them reliably.
Frequently asked questions
How many people has Florida executed recently?
Florida executed a record 19 people in 2025 and has continued at a similar pace in 2026, leading the nation both years.
Why is Florida executing so many people?
A combination of a 2023 law allowing death sentences on an 8–4 jury vote and a rapid cadence of death warrants signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis has moved many long-stalled cases toward execution.
Does Florida require a unanimous jury for the death penalty?
No. Since 2023, Florida law permits a death sentence with as few as 8 of 12 jurors recommending it — one of the lowest thresholds among U.S. death-penalty states.
This is a sensitive subject. If you are personally affected by issues raised here, support and resources are available.
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