26 Executions Carried Out in the US This Year
Religious and Human Rights Groups Raise Opposition to Death Penalty
In Florida, a death row inmate who had served nearly 30 years had his stay of execution lifted on July 15 (local time), and his sentence was carried out by lethal injection. With this, the number of executions in the United States this year has risen to 26, surpassing last year's total.
According to AP and AFP, Florida authorities announced that Michael Bell, age 54, was executed at the state prison. He had been sentenced to death in 1995 and incarcerated after being convicted of a 1993 shooting in front of a bar in Jacksonville, Florida, which resulted in the deaths of two people.
Prior to the execution, Bell's defense team requested a stay based on new evidence, but the court rejected the appeal. On the morning of his execution, Bell had his last meal and received religious counseling; he had no visitors. Authorities officially confirmed his death at 6:25 p.m.
This was the eighth execution in Florida this year, with another scheduled for later this month. In response to the series of executions, religious groups and human rights organizations have voiced strong criticism of the state government. Recently, over 100 religious leaders sent a letter to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, urging a halt to executions.
John Blume, director of the Cornell Death Penalty Project at Cornell Law School, pointed out that the president's stance can influence governors. He noted that President Donald Trump actively pursued death penalty policies from the beginning of his term, and analyzed that the current situation is a continuation of that approach.
Trump is considered a prominent supporter of the death penalty. During his first term in 2020, he resumed federal executions for the first time in 17 years, carrying out 13 executions before the end of his term. In contrast, former President Joe Biden commuted the sentences of some death row inmates. Last winter, as president-elect, Trump strongly criticized then-President Biden's decision.
Addressing Biden, who commuted the sentences of 37 death row inmates to life imprisonment without parole for Christmas, Trump said, "Unbelievably, 'Sleepy Joe Biden' pardoned people who committed the most horrific crimes, including murder, rape, and looting." 'Sleepy Joe Biden' is a nickname Trump used during his presidential campaign to highlight Biden's age.
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