Half way through 2023, is US on pace for the most executions in nearly a decade?

As we turn past the half-way point in the year, I thought it interesting to note that the first half of 2023 had a total of 13 executions and that at least ten more “serious” execution dates have already been set for the the second half of 2023 (according to this accounting from the Death Penalty Information Center).  A quick glance at this DPIC fact sheet shows that we have already had more executions in 2023 than took place in all of 2021.  And, if just a few more 2023 execution dates get set and most get carried out, this year could end up with more total executions in the United States than any year since 2015 (when there were 28) or even 2014 (when there were 35).

Of course, these yearly execution totals are a far cry from what the US experienced around the turn of the millennium: during the second term of Bill Clinton and the first term of George W. Bush (from 1997 through 2004), the US averaged over 73 executions per year (with a peak of 98 executions in 1999).  Stated a bit differently, while 2023 seems to be putting the US back on a pace for around two executions per month on average, not long ago this country was averaging over six executions per month.

These numbers strike me as especially interesting as another notable US Supreme Court Term comes to an end without much SCOTUS engagement with capital punishment jurisprudence.  The US Supreme Court’s evolving doctrines and scrutiny of capital convictions and sentences over the last half-century have profoundly impacted the size and nature of death rows and whose death sentences get carried out.  I suspect the current group of Justices will not be inclined to get in the way if more states start showing even more interest in completing even more executions.  But I also sense other legal actors (eg, state courts and prosecutors) and various political and practical realities may still keep the US execution rate well below past recent peaks for the foreseeable future.