Florida Executed 19 Men in 2025 as DeSantis Accelerated Death Warrants

Q: Why is the state with the most death row exonerations now speeding up its executions?

Florida is speeding up executions mainly because Governor Ron DeSantis has chosen to use the broad power Florida law gives him to sign death warrants quickly, while state lawmakers have lowered barriers to imposing death sentences. In Florida, the governor alone decides when to issue death warrants, and DeSantis has said the state is correcting years of delay, arguing that victims’ families have waited too long and that “justice delayed is justice denied.” His administration has also pointed to the pandemic as a reason executions had slowed earlier in his term. Once warrants are signed, Florida moves unusually fast: the gap between warrant and execution is often about a month, giving defense lawyers less time than in many other states. The legal framework has also shifted. In 2023, Florida reduced the jury threshold for recommending death from unanimity to 8 of 12 jurors, one of the lowest standards in the country. The state has also expanded execution methods and maintained an aggressive schedule despite ongoing challenges to its lethal injection protocol. That acceleration stands in sharp tension with Florida’s record of 30 death row exonerations, the highest in the nation. Critics say that history should make the state more cautious, not faster, because wrongful convictions, rushed litigation and non-unanimous jury recommendations increase the risk of irreversible error. But courts have largely allowed the pace to continue, and DeSantis has shown no sign of slowing it.

3 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Jun 30

Nineteen men were executed in Florida in 2025, breaking the state's annual record of 11 set in 1936 and making it the busiest execution year there in more than eight decades.
DeSantis drove the surge by signing death warrants at an accelerated pace starting in January 2025, sharply speeding the move from long death-row appeals to execution dates.
Florida alone accounted for 40% of all U.S. executions in 2025, standing out as capital punishment declined more broadly nationwide.
The pace reshaped prison and pastoral routines around death row, with condemned prisoners moved to death watch cells near the execution chamber in their final weeks.

Sources

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The New York Times4h ago

Florida Executes Record 19 Men in 2025 Under Gov. DeSantis

Tampa Bay Times4h ago

See the full list of what DeSantis rejected from the state budget

Central Florida Public Media (previously WMFE)4h ago

DeSantis wields hefty veto pen, signs state budget

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Florida Executes 19 in 2025: Record-Breaking Pace, Protocol Failures, and National Outcry Over Death Penalty Surge

Overview

In 2025, the United States saw a sharp reversal of its long decline in executions, with Florida at the center of this change. Governor Ron DeSantis began rapidly signing death warrants in January, leading to Florida’s busiest execution period ever. This sudden acceleration deeply affected those connected to the state’s death row, such as Father Dustin Feddon, who was distressed by the quick shift from lengthy appeals to frequent executions. Florida’s record-breaking pace made it a national outlier, highlighting the profound impact of policy changes on both the justice system and the people involved.

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