Trump Revives Death Penalty Push Amid Rising US Executions, Diverging Path From Europe
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A renewed focus on capital punishment by the current US management is fueling a stark contrast with European legal philosophies, raising questions about justice, deterrence, and the role of violence in society. Following the death of Charlie Kirk and the arrest of Tyler Robinson, the administration invoked the death penalty, a move that underscores a long-held belief in “tough on crime” policies and a desire for retribution. Though, this approach is not a new phenomenon for this administration. As far back as 1989, amid heightened crime rates in New York City, the administration purchased full-page advertisements in major newspapers – including the New York Times, Daily News, and New york Post – calling for the reinstatement of the electric chair. This advocacy followed the highly publicized rape of a jogger in Central Park,and while the advertisements did not name those initially arrested,it was widely interpreted as an attack on the five African American and Hispanic children later exonerated in the case.
This pattern continued in response to specific events. After a 2017 terrorist attack in Manhattan where eight people were killed, the administration tweeted, “New York terrorist should receive the death penalty!” In 2018 and 2019, the call for capital punishment expanded to include drug traffickers, with a declaration that “In the countries where there is a death penalty for drug traffickers, the problem dose not exist,” citing Singapore and China – despite the continued presence of drug trafficking in those nations.
Resumption of Federal Executions and Recent Policy Shifts
The most significant shift occurred in 2020, when the Department of Justice, acting on the direction of the White House, resumed federal executions after a 17-year hiatus. Thirteen individuals were executed in the final six months of the first term, a record number in modern times.This trajectory has continued, with an executive order signed in January 2025 – on the first day of the new mandate – directing the Department of Justice to seek the death penalty in the most serious cases, including those involving undocumented immigrants.
Currently, the death penalty is authorized in 27 of the 50 US states, ranging from Texas and Florida to California and Pennsylvania. While lethal injection remains the primary method, states are increasingly exploring alternatives. These include the electric chair in South Carolina, the firing squad in Oklahoma and Utah, nitrogen hypoxia in Alabama and Louisiana, and even hanging in New Hampshire.The number of executions is demonstrably rising, increasing from seventeen in 2020 to thirty in 2025.
The Ineffectiveness of Capital punishment: A Contrast with Europe
However, data from the Death Penalty Information Center reveals a critical disconnect: the number of murders does not demonstrably decrease in relation to the number of death sentences carried out. Researchers have found the two variables to be entirely independent.
This stands in stark contrast to Europe, which has largely abandoned capital punishment. as early as 1764, Cesare Beccaria, in his seminal work On Crimes and Punishments, argued that the death penalty was both useless and inhumane.Today, the practice is largely absent across the continent. Russia was the last Council of Europe member to ban it, in 2009, with a moratorium extended by its Constitutional Court. Belarus remains the sole European nation that continues to practice capital execution, albeit nominally.
“America is twisted in this blood justice anxiety,” one analyst noted, “instead of wondering if the uncontrolled sale of weapons is not the basis of this spiral of violence.” Europe, meanwhile, has pursued a diffrent path – one rooted in civilization and the principles of the enlightenment.
A Moral and philosophical Divide
The divergence highlights a basic difference in perspective.The administration’s stance often finds support among evangelical leaders, framing capital punishment as a exhibition of strength. However, critics argue that invoking death as justice distances the US from Europe’s embrace of reason and rehabilitation.
This divide extends to religious thought within the US itself. The founder of the Catholic Worker Movement, Dorothy Day, wrote in the 1930s that the death penalty was “the logical outcome of a society that refuses the Gospel of Mercy.” The debate ultimately centers on whether violence can be extinguished by more violence, or whether the law should be guided by principles of restorative justice and mercy.
