Florida, Texas led US in executions as Americans question fairness of death penalty sentences: Report

Left: Texas Governor Greg Abbott speaks at a news conference after surveying tornado damage in Perryton, Texas, Saturday, June, 17, 2023.(AP Photo/David Erickson, File). Right: FILE – Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis gestures during a news conference, Jan. 26, 2023, in Miami. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier, File)

Texas and Florida led the nation in carrying out death penalty sentences in 2023 and the number of executions increased from last year, even as a majority of Americans believe capital punishment is administered unfairly.

A total of 24 people were put to death in 2023, according to a year-end report from the Death Penalty Information Center. That’s an increase from the 18 people who were executed in 2022.

Florida and Texas accounted for more than half the total executions in the country, according to the report. Five states carried out the death sentence in 2023: Florida had six executions and Texas had eight, respectively, while Missouri and Oklahoma each put four people to death. Alabama held two executions.

As Law&Crime previously reported, new legislation in the Sunshine State under Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis eliminates the unanimity requirement for jurors weighing the death penalty, enabling the imposition of a death sentence with approval from only eight of 12 jurors. That law passed after Parkland school shooter Nikolas Cruz, who killed 17 people, narrowly avoided a death sentence when one juror refused to vote for capital punishment.

Overall, it was the ninth consecutive year where fewer than 30 people were executed and fewer than 50 people were sentenced to death, according to the DPIC — the lowest number of states that executed and imposed new death sentences in 20 years.

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