Executions

Methods of Execution

Lethal injection is the most widely-used method of execution, but many states authorize other methods including electrocution, lethal gas, and firing squad.

Overview

The pri­ma­ry means of exe­cu­tion in the U.S. have been hang­ing, elec­tro­cu­tion, the gas cham­ber, fir­ing squad, and lethal injec­tion. The Supreme Court has nev­er found a method of exe­cu­tion to be uncon­sti­tu­tion­al, though some meth­ods have been declared uncon­sti­tu­tion­al by state courts. The pre­dom­i­nance of lethal injec­tion as the pre­ferred means of exe­cu­tion in all states in the mod­ern era may have put off any judg­ment by the Court regard­ing older methods.

Because of a resis­tance by drug man­u­fac­tur­ers to pro­vide the drugs typ­i­cal­ly used in lethal injec­tions, some states now allow the use of alter­na­tive meth­ods if lethal injec­tion can­not be per­formed. Controversies sur­round­ing the method to be used have delayed exe­cu­tions in many states, con­tribut­ing to an over­all decline in the use of the death penalty.

Authorized Methods

NOTE: [Brackets] around a state indi­cate that the state autho­rizes the list­ed method as an alter­na­tive method if oth­er meth­ods are found to be uncon­sti­tu­tion­al or are unavailable/​impractical. Click on the state to obtain spe­cif­ic infor­ma­tion about the meth­ods autho­rized.
 

Method# of exe­cu­tions by method since 1976# of states autho­riz­ing methodJurisdictions that Authorize
Lethal Injection1428

28 states+ and U.S. Military and U.S. Gov’t

In South Carolina, lethal injec­tion may be elect­ed as an alter­na­tive method, if available.

+includes 1 state that no longer have an active death penalty

Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Florida^, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire*, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, [South Carolina], South Dakota, Tennessee^, Texas, Utah, Wyoming, U.S. Military, U.S. Government

*New Hampshire abol­ished the death penal­ty but the repeal may not apply retroac­tive­ly, leav­ing a pris­on­er on death row fac­ing possible execution.

To find the drug pro­to­cols used by states, see State-by-State Lethal Injection.

Electrocution1639 states (in South Carolina, elec­tro­cu­tion is the default method; the oth­er 8 have lethal injec­tion as default method).

[Alabama], [Arkansas], Florida, Kentucky, [Louisiana], [Mississippi], [Oklahoma], South Carolina, [Tennessee]

The supreme courts of Georgia (2001) and Nebraska (2008) have ruled that the use of the elec­tric chair vio­lates their state con­sti­tu­tion­al pro­hi­bi­tions against cru­el and unusual punishment.

Virginia had autho­rized the elec­tric chair as a method of exe­cu­tion in some cas­es, but it repealed the death penal­ty in March 2021.

Lethal Gas158 states (all have lethal injec­tion as default method)

[Alabama], Arizona, California, [Louisiana], [Mississippi], Missouri, [Oklahoma], [Wyoming]

Four states (Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Oklahoma) specif­i­cal­ly autho­rize exe­cu­tion by nitro­gen hypox­ia, though only Alabama has issued a pro­to­col for its use. Alabama is the only state that has per­formed an exe­cu­tion by nitro­gen hypox­ia. The oth­er states list­ed autho­rize ​“lethal gas,” but do not spec­i­fy what type of gas would be used.

Firing Squad35 states (in South Carolina, elec­tro­cu­tion is the default method; the oth­er states have lethal injec­tion as primary method)[Mississippi], [Oklahoma], [Utah], [South Carolina], [Idaho]

^Both Florida and Tennessee explic­it­ly autho­rize lethal injec­tion and elec­tro­cu­tion, but state that, if those meth­ods are found uncon­sti­tu­tion­al, pris­on­ers may be exe­cut­ed by any con­sti­tu­tion­al method of execution.

News & Developments

News

Feb 18, 2025

After a 15-Year Pause, Louisiana Governor Intends to Restart Executions Using New Nitrogen Gas Protocol; Courts Set Execution Dates for Two Prisoners

On February 10, 2025, Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry announced his deci­sion to end a 15-year pause on exe­cu­tions, say­ing the Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections is ready to car­ry out exe­cu­tions under a new nitro­gen gas exe­cu­tion pro­to­col. In a press release fol­low­ing his announce­ment, Gov. Landry said,​“For too long, Louisiana has failed to uphold the promis­es made to vic­tims of our State’s most vio­lent crimes; but that fail­ure of leadership by…

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News

Feb 03, 2025

Fired Federal Judge Raises Serious Concerns About Arizona’s Lethal Injection Protocol

Retired fed­er­al mag­is­trate Judge David Duncan, who was hired and then abrupt­ly fired by Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs to review the state’s exe­cu­tion pro­to­col, con­tin­ues to raise sig­nif­i­cant con­cerns about the state’s lethal injec­tion pro­to­col. In an inter­view with ABC15, Judge Duncan high­light­ed issues with the chain of com­mand for lethal injec­tion drugs, trans­paren­cy, and the state doc­u­men­ta­tion process.​“It’s shock­ing irony that one of my tasks was…

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News

Jan 23, 2025

Arizona’s Handling of Lethal Injection Drugs Raises Transparency and Viability Concerns

According to inves­tiga­tive report­ing from the AZ Mirror, the Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation, & Reentry (ADCRR) is stor­ing the state’s sup­ply of pen­to­bar­bi­tal salt, the active ingre­di­ent used in a com­pound­ed form in lethal injec­tion exe­cu­tions, in eight unmarked glass con­tain­ers in a prison refrig­er­a­tor, rais­ing doubts about the drugs’ authen­tic­i­ty and effi­ca­cy. ADCRR has refused to reveal how long it has been in pos­ses­sion of these…

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News

Jan 21, 2025

Among Flurry of First-Day Executive Orders, President Trump Issues Order on the Death Penalty

On January 20, 2025, President Donald Trump signed more than two dozen Executive Orders, includ­ing a call to​“restore” the fed­er­al death penal­ty. The Order, while lack­ing many impor­tant details, instructs the Department of Justice’s Attorney General to​“pur­sue the death penal­ty for all crimes of a sever­i­ty demand­ing its use,” includ­ing the killing of a law enforce­ment offi­cer or​“a cap­i­tal crime com­mit­ted by an ille­gal alien present in this coun­try” and to encourage…

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News

Jan 16, 2025

Department of Justice Withdraws Federal Execution Protocol and Keeps Moratorium on Executions in Place

Three and a half years after announc­ing its inves­ti­ga­tion into the fed­er­al death penal­ty pro­to­col, Attorney General Merrick Garland announced on January 15, 2025 that the Department of Justice (DOJ) is rescind­ing the fed­er­al government’s sin­­gle-drug pen­to­bar­bi­tal lethal injec­tion pro­to­col. The DOJ’s deci­sion was based on what AG Garland called​“sig­nif­i­cant uncer­tain­ty” about whether exe­cu­tions by pen­to­bar­bi­tal caused unnec­es­sary pain and suf­fer­ing. The…

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