Methods of Execution

Overview

The primary methods 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 primary method of execution in all states in the modern era may have delayed any judgment by the Court regarding older methods.

Since 2008, the Court has made it more difficult for prisoners to challenge methods of execution as unconstitutional. Beginning with the Court’s decision in Baze v. Rees (2008), and most recently in Bucklew v. Precythe (2019), it is not enough to show that a method of execution has a ​“demonstrated risk of severe pain.” The prisoner must also identify ​“an alternative [method] that is feasible, readily implemented, and…significantly reduces a substantial risk of severe pain.”

These changes coincided with drug manufacturers’ growing unwillingness to provide the drugs used in lethal injections. As a result, some states now allow the use of alternative methods. Controversies and serious concerns about the methods 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. 

^Tennessee explicitly authorizes lethal injection and electrocution, but states that, if those methods are found unconstitutional, prisoners may be executed by any constitutional method of execution. In 2025, Florida and North Carolina authorized any execution method not deemed unconstitutional. In 2025, North Carolina also removed bans on electrocution and lethal gas.