For a long time, when Americans thought about the death penalty, they thought of Texas. Every year for the last several decades, the Lone Star State led the nation in new death sentences and executions.

But no more. Every year since 2019, Texas has carried out fewer than 10 executions. Last year, only five people were put to death in Texas. So far in 2025, it has carried out four executions, with two more scheduled for before the end of the year.

Meanwhile, following a plan I described two years ago, Florida has jumped to the head of the death penalty pack. This year, it has already executed 10 people, with two more scheduled in 2025. NBC News reports that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis will oversee “more executions in a single year than any other Florida governor since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976.” And last year, seven new death sentences were imposed by Florida juries — the highest number in the nation.

As it has ramped up its death penalty, Florida has also doubled down on the problems and the injustices that mark the use of capital punishment everywhere.

How has Florida made........

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