The practice of capital punishment in Texas is experiencing a notable downturn, as evidenced by the fewer executions and death sentences observed in recent years. As CBS Austin reports, a combination of legal updates, evolving social norms, and financial considerations has contributed to this decline. The state of Texas, once the world's pioneer in using lethal injection for executions back in 1982, has reduced its death row population to under 200 inmates for the first time since the early '90s.
According to the Houston Public Media, the shift away from capital punishment reflects an "evolving standards of decency" narrative and it is also being influenced by the local jurisdictions and the decisions of their elected officials; with some Texas counties continuing the practice while others have ceased entirely. In 2024, only five men were executed in the state, marking the sixth consecutive year with fewer than 10 executions, as Robin Maher, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, pointed out the narrative has shifted from a national to a local focus.
Another significant influence on this trend is the financial impact of death penalty cases. Trials requiring death sentences come with hefty price tags due to more intricate jury selection processes and the necessity for expert witnesses, often culminating in counties, especially the lesser populous ones, grappling with inflated costs upon their budget. Kristin Houlé Cuellar, executive director of the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, explained, "All of this adds up to a very expensive system, and that meter starts running the minute the district attorney decides that [they're] going to seek the death penalty."
Legal milestones, such as the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals updating its standards to disqualify death sentences based on intellectual disability after 2017 and 2019 Supreme Court rulings, have also played a key role in the state's decreasing executions and this reflects changes in the societal fabric and in the judicial system's approach to punishment, in 2025, four executions are scheduled in Texas, yet this figure does not include Robert Roberson, whose contentious case has teetered on the brink of execution until being temporarily blocked by the Texas Supreme Court. Public opinion has also shifted with less than half of younger generation adults supporting the death penalty, as displayed in a recent Gallup poll, the decreasing reliance on capital punishment seems to be mirroring an emerging consensus that it might no longer be a necessary part of the criminal justice system.
