In 2025, the state of Florida witnessed a sharp acceleration in executions under Governor Ron DeSantis, marking the most active period of capital punishment in more than 80 years. By year’s end, Florida had executed 19 men, surpassing the previous annual record of 11 set in 1936, and accounting for roughly 40 percent of all executions nationwide.

Among those affected was Frank Walls, a death-row inmate transferred to Florida State Prison to await execution in one of three cells referred to as death watch, located within 30 feet of the execution chamber. Walls’s execution on a December day underscored the intense and intimate nature of the final weeks on death row, a time during which Father Dustin Feddon, a Catholic priest and longtime prison minister, provided spiritual support to condemned inmates. Father Dustin has been visiting Florida’s death row for over a decade, but the swift increase in executions shifted his role from accompanying men serving death sentences to preparing them for imminent death.

The number of executions in Florida in 2025 represents a notable contrast to national trends. Over recent decades, the United States has seen a widespread decline in capital punishment, with 33 states abolishing it or having not carried out executions in at least ten years. Death sentences are rarer, and public support has diminished, especially among younger Americans. Factors influencing this shift include concerns over wrongful convictions—with more than 200 death-row exonerations since the 1970s—high legal costs associated with capital cases, and decreasing violent crime rates.

The rapid pace of executions in Florida has transformed the prison’s death watch area from a typically sparse holding place into a space often fully occupied, creating a near-continuous succession of executions. The process is marked by a degree of secrecy and suddenness: when DeSantis signs a death warrant, prisoners on death row remain unaware who is targeted until prison officials arrive at the cell, a moment described by former inmate John Buzia as tense and hauntingly silent.

Legal representatives for those on death row, many of whom work for Florida’s Capital Collateral Regional Counsel, face heightened challenges due to the expedited timeline from warrant signing to execution—typically about one month. This contrasts with states like Texas, which mandate at least 90 days. The shortened intervals place significant pressure on attorneys to identify new evidence or legal grounds that might delay or overturn executions, including advances in forensic testing or reassessments of mental health claims. A recent example involved James Duckett, whose execution was stayed days before it was scheduled to allow for additional DNA testing.

The pace has exacted personal and professional costs. Paul Kalil, lead attorney for inmate Billy Kearse, faced his father’s terminal illness and death while simultaneously managing last-minute appeals under severe time constraints. Despite requests for extensions based on these circumstances, Florida courts granted only limited additional time before Kearse’s execution proceeded.

Florida has the nation’s highest number of death-row exonerations, with 30 men cleared of capital crimes, highlighting ongoing concerns about the risk of wrongful execution. As executions continue at an unprecedented rate, questions persist about the balance between swift capital punishment and thorough legal due process, as well as the emotional toll on those involved in the system, from inmates and their families to attorneys and ministers like Father Dustin, who accompanies men through their final days.