Since 2025, Florida has carried out more executions than every other state combined. In my story today, I set out to understand why Florida has become the epicenter of the American death penalty. The pace of executions in Florida stands in sharp contrast to the decades-long national retreat from capital punishment. Thirty-three states have either abolished the death penalty or gone at least a decade without carrying out an execution. The record number of executions comes in a state whose justice system has a history of wrongful convictions in capital cases. More death-row prisoners have been exonerated in Florida than in any other state. Unlike other active death-penalty states, Florida gives its governor, Ron DeSantis, sole authority to decide which eligible death row prisoners will be executed and when. The process is conducted behind closed doors, and the secrecy surrounding those decisions has left victims’ families, prisoners and their lawyers searching for clues about DeSantis’s selection process. Stay in touch: Like this email? Forward it to a friend and help us grow. Loved a story? Hated it? Write us a letter at magazine@nytimes.com. Did a friend forward this to you? Sign up here to get the magazine newsletter.
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