These States Don’t Want You to See the Cruelty of Their Executions

By The Editorial Board

The editorial board is a group of opinion journalists whose views are informed by expertise, research, debate and certain longstanding values. It is separate from the newsroom.

The use of the death penalty has risen sharply in the United States, with more executions in 2025 than any year since 2009. It is a cruel and unjust development.

Source: Death Penalty Information Center.

In theory, the death penalty is reserved for “the worst of the worst.” In practice, it is very different. People who are executed for their crimes are disproportionately poor or intellectually disabled and often lacked good lawyers. They are also more likely to be sentenced to death if they have been convicted of killing a white person.

Anthony Boyd, who maintained his innocence until Alabama executed him last year at age 54, had an inexperienced court-appointed lawyer and was convicted on disputed eyewitness testimony. Charles Flores, 56, has spent 27 years on death row in Texas for a murder conviction based solely on unreliable testimony from a hypnotized witness. Robert Roberson, who has autism, remains on death row there despite having been convicted on now-debunked evidence that he had shaken his daughter to death.

Adding to the injustice, executions often go awry and become a grisly spectacle. As Alabama administered nitrous gas to kill Mr. Boyd, he violently thrashed and drew agonized breaths for 30 minutes.

The death penalty is a fraught subject because most people on death row are guilty of murder and deserve tough punishment. But a life sentence without parole is a tough punishment. And the death penalty is both unavoidably flawed and unworthy of a decent society. As long it exists, it will disproportionately spare criminals with more resources and be used against people who are poor, mentally disabled or otherwise vulnerable.

More than 200 people on death row have been exonerated since 1973

Each line represents a person who was exonerated.

Note: Not all people were on death row at the time of their exonerations. Source: Death Penalty Information Center.

State secrecy rules about executions

The 21 highlighted states block journalists from witnessing executions or prohibit the release of information about execution drugs.

Note: Rules include laws, statutes and Department of Corrections policies. Source: Death Penalty Information Center.

Florida conducted more than one-third of U.S. executions in 2025

Executions in each state in 2025

Source: Death Penalty Information Center; Tracking Florida’s Death Penalty.

Subscribe to The Times to read as many articles as you like.

The editorial board is a group of opinion journalists whose views are informed by expertise, research, debate and certain longstanding values. It is separate from the newsroom.

© The New York Times