Three US inmates face execution as death penalty debate intensifies

Three US prisoners — Anthony Darrell Hines, Jeremy Williams and Carlos Cuesta-Rodriguez — are scheduled for execution in Tennessee, Alabama and Oklahoma, respectively. The planned executions come as the number of executions in the US rises, largely driven by Florida, while public and jury support for the death penalty continues to decline. The use of lethal injection and other execution methods has also faced growing criticism following several problematic procedures.

Three convicted murderers in the United States are scheduled to be executed on the same day, highlighting a sharp increase in capital punishment across the country despite declining public and jury support for the death penalty.
Anthony Darrell Hines, 66, is scheduled to be executed in Tennessee, Jeremy Williams, 41, in Alabama, and Carlos Cuesta-Rodriguez, 71, in Oklahoma.
If all three executions proceed, they would mark the first time in 16 years that three people have been put to death in the United States on the same day.
The planned executions come amid a broader increase in the use of the death penalty. The US recorded 47 executions across 11 states in 2025, compared with 25 in 2024.

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION REIGNITES DEATH PENALTY

President Donald Trump has been a strong supporter of capital punishment and has described it as an important tool for punishing serious crimes and deterring lethal violence.
During his first presidency, Trump ended a nearly two-decade federal moratorium on executions and 13 federal inmates were executed during a six-month period in 2020.
The federal death penalty was later paused under President Joe Biden.
On the first day of Trump's second term in 2025, however, he signed an executive order directing the federal government to restore the use of capital punishment.
No federal execution has taken place since the order was signed, but the administration has taken steps to expand and accelerate death-penalty procedures.
The Justice Department has also expanded the methods available for executions, including bringing back lethal injection and allowing consideration of methods such as firing squads.

FLORIDA DRIVES THE NATIONAL INCREASE

Florida has emerged as the biggest contributor to the recent rise in US executions.
Of the 47 executions carried out across the country in 2025, 19 took place in Florida.
In 2026, Florida has again accounted for a large share of executions, with 12 of the 19 executions recorded by the middle of the year occurring in the state.
Experts attribute much of the increase to Republican Governor Ron DeSantis, who has strongly supported capital punishment.
Florida has also changed its laws to make it easier for prosecutors to pursue death sentences.
In 2023, the state reduced the number of jurors required to recommend the death penalty from a unanimous 12 to eight.
The state has also expanded the circumstances under which certain crimes can qualify as capital offences.

STATES HOLD MAJOR POWER OVER EXECUTIONS

Although the federal government can impose the death penalty, individual states retain significant authority over capital punishment.
Twenty-seven of the 50 US states currently have death-penalty laws.
However, California, Ohio, Oregon and Pennsylvania have paused executions through executive action.
Governors and state prosecutors can therefore play a major role in determining whether death sentences are carried out.
Florida is particularly notable because its governor can sign death warrants for prisoners who have exhausted their appeals without requiring additional court oversight.

EXECUTION METHODS UNDER SCRUTINY

The debate over capital punishment is not limited to whether governments should execute prisoners.
The methods used to carry out executions have also attracted increasing scrutiny.
Pharmaceutical companies have opposed the use of their medicines in executions, contributing to shortages of drugs required for lethal injections.
Some states have therefore turned to alternative methods.
South Carolina resumed executions by firing squad in 2025 as officials faced difficulties obtaining lethal-injection drugs.
There have also been cases in which lethal injections have gone badly wrong.

FAILED TENNESSEE EXECUTION RAISES CONCERNS

In May, Tennessee officials struggled for more than an hour to administer a lethal injection to Tony Von Carruthers, who had spent decades on death row.
Witnesses reported that Carruthers experienced significant pain during the attempted execution.
Governor Bill Lee later granted him a one-year reprieve.
The state has denied that the execution attempt was botched, saying the medical team was unable to establish intravenous access.
Hines is scheduled to be executed under the same Tennessee protocol used during the failed attempt.
His case has therefore attracted additional attention, particularly because he has maintained his innocence and is reportedly bedridden.

THREE MEN AWAIT FINAL HOURS

In Alabama, Jeremy Williams is scheduled to die by lethal injection after being convicted of the rape and murder of a five-year-old girl.
Williams has dismissed his lawyers and indicated that he does not wish to pursue further efforts to stop his execution.
Alabama Governor Kay Ivey has said she does not intend to grant him clemency.
In Oklahoma, 71-year-old Carlos Cuesta-Rodriguez is also scheduled to be executed by lethal injection for the 2003 murder of a woman.
He has reportedly asked for no clemency.
His age has raised additional concerns among experts about the possibility of complications during the execution.

PUBLIC SUPPORT FOR DEATH PENALTY DECLINES

The increase in executions is occurring despite evidence that public support for capital punishment is weakening.
A Gallup poll found that only about 52 percent of Americans consider the death penalty morally acceptable, one of the lowest levels recorded since the 1970s.
Support for capital punishment has also fallen among juries.
During the 1990s, American juries handed down more than 300 death sentences in some years.
In 2025, juries issued just 23 death sentences.
Death-penalty researchers say the decline is significant because jurors are ordinary citizens who are directly responsible for deciding whether someone convicted of a serious crime should receive the ultimate punishment.

THE DEATH PENALTY REMAINS DIVISIVE

Supporters argue that capital punishment is an appropriate response to the most serious crimes and can serve as a deterrent.
Opponents argue that executions are irreversible and that innocent people can be wrongly convicted.
Concerns have also been raised about racial disparities, the cost of death-penalty cases and the reliability of execution procedures.
The United States remains one of the few Western countries where capital punishment is still legally used, while most European countries have abolished it.

A GROWING CONTRADICTION

The planned executions in Tennessee, Alabama and Oklahoma illustrate a growing contradiction in the American death-penalty debate.
Executions are increasing in several states, particularly Florida, while public acceptance and the number of new death sentences handed down by juries continue to decline.
The cases of Hines, Williams and Cuesta-Rodriguez will therefore attract attention not only because of the crimes for which they were convicted, but also because they come at a time when the future of capital punishment in America remains increasingly contested.
Whether all three executions proceed will depend on any last-minute legal challenges, appeals or decisions on clemency.