"Donald Trump has been forthright about his intention to bring about a death-penalty renaissance, and now his efforts are coming to fruition. This year has been a particularly lethal one for America's death-row prisoners. Together, Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Indiana, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas have executed a total of 40 people in the past 10 months by injection, nitrogen hypoxia, and firing squad, surpassing 2024's total of 25-a significant spike in an otherwise-downward long-term trend."
"Capital punishment is central to Trump's authoritarian approach to criminal justice. His pro-death penalty views emerged decades before he ascended to the presidency. In 1989, he bought full-page advertisements in The New York Times, the New York Daily News, the New York Post, and New York Newsday calling for the alleged perpetrators of a gang rape in Central Park to be sentenced to death."
"Trump blasted Ed Koch, the New York City mayor at the time, for being soft on crime, both spiritually and practically. "Mayor Koch has stated that hate and rancor should be removed from our hearts," Trump wrote. "I do not think so. I want to hate these muggers and murderers. They should be forced to suffer and, when they kill, they should be executed for their crimes.""
Executions have spiked in 10 months across Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Indiana, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas, totaling 40 people versus 25 in 2024. Executions have used injection, nitrogen hypoxia, and firing squad. The federal death penalty was restored after a prior moratorium. Republican state legislatures have pursued expansions of capital-eligible crimes and authorized new execution methods. Capital punishment functions as a central element of Trump's authoritarian criminal-justice approach. Trump's pro-death-penalty stance predates his presidency, including 1989 full-page ads urging death sentences in the Central Park rape case and proclaiming retribution toward perpetrators.
Read at The Atlantic
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