In 2025, Florida set 19 people for execution under Governor Ron DeSantis, the most executions in a single year by any Florida governor since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976.
November 18, 2025
high
temporal
Counts of executions in Florida during the 2025 calendar year compared to historical post-reinstatement records.
As of November 18, 2025, forty-three people had been executed in the United States during 2025.
November 18, 2025
high
temporal
National count of executions during the 2025 calendar year up to the referenced date.
Nearly 90,000 people have been arrested under the emergency powers granted during El Salvador's March 2022 state of emergency.
November 18, 2025
high
statistical
Quantifies arrests reported as associated with the state of emergency policy that began in March 2022.
People detained under El Salvador's state of emergency that began in March 2022 have frequently been held incommunicado without contact with relatives or lawyers.
November 18, 2025
high
human_rights_condition
Describes a reported pattern of detention conditions under the March 2022 state of emergency.
Misstatements of law presented to a grand jury, the use of potentially privileged communications in an investigation, and unexplained irregularities in grand jury transcripts are types of investigative deficiencies that can undermine the integrity of grand jury proceedings.
November 17, 2025
high
legal_procedure
General categories of investigative problems that are relevant when assessing the integrity of grand jury proceedings.
Indiana has a stand-your-ground law that requires a defendant to have sufficient information to reasonably believe deadly force was necessary in order to qualify for that defense.
November 17, 2025
high
legal
Describes the legal standard for invoking a stand-your-ground defense in Indiana as reported by local prosecutors.
Voluntary manslaughter in Indiana can carry a potential prison sentence of 10 to 30 years.
November 17, 2025
high
legal
Reported sentencing range associated with a voluntary manslaughter charge in Indiana.
A common legal principle in self-defense claims is that the defendant's actions may be evaluated based on the circumstances as the defendant perceived them.
November 17, 2025
high
legal
Defense arguments often emphasize subjective perception when assessing justification for use of force.
In United States criminal procedure, courts commonly permit pretrial release through posting monetary bail or bond, which allows a defendant to be released from custody pending trial subject to court-imposed conditions.
November 14, 2025
high
procedural
Typical mechanism for securing a defendant's appearance in court prior to trial
Hate crime charges in the United States can be prosecuted in federal court and tried before a jury in U.S. District Courts.
November 14, 2025
high
legal
Federal hate-crime statutes allow prosecution in U.S. District Courts with jury trials.
Federal prosecutors may introduce defendants' social media posts and text messages as evidence to establish motive in hate-crime prosecutions.
November 14, 2025
high
legal
Digital communications are commonly used as evidentiary material in criminal motive arguments.
State criminal convictions and sentences can remain in effect independently of related federal convictions, so a person can continue serving a state-imposed prison term even if a federal conviction is overturned.
November 14, 2025
high
legal
State and federal prosecutions operate separately under the dual-sovereignty principle.
Federal prosecutors can encounter judicial-system obstacles when bringing charges, litigating cases, or carrying out legal processes in issue areas including assaults on law enforcement, obstruction of immigration authorities, investigations into domestic terrorist organizations (for example, Antifa), interstate threats, doxxing, and hoaxes.
November 14, 2025
high
procedural
Describes common categories of legal issues in which prosecutors may face judicial or procedural hurdles.
Prosecutors have reported encountering court-level roadblocks in litigation involving immigration policy, federal appointments and firings, government funding disputes, transgender-related policies, and lawsuits involving large law firms.
November 14, 2025
high
procedural
Summarizes recurring areas of litigation where courts have posed challenges to prosecutorial or administrative actions.
Jeffrey Epstein was a convicted sex offender who died by suicide in 2019 while in prison.
November 12, 2025
high
temporal
Reported historical fact about Epstein's conviction and death.
A presidential commutation can release a person from incarceration while leaving other components of the person's sentence, such as fines and conditions of supervised release, in effect.
November 10, 2025
high
legal
Describes the legal effect of a presidential commutation on different components of a criminal sentence.
Individuals released from custody under conditional releases, including commutations or supervised release, can be returned to federal custody if they violate the terms of their release.
November 10, 2025
high
legal
States the possible consequence of violating terms of a conditional release from custody.
Time an individual spends in custody before sentencing is typically credited toward their prison sentence and is subtracted from the total sentence to be served.
November 10, 2025
high
procedural
Describes the common sentencing practice of crediting pre-sentencing detention as time served.
Defense attorneys can file motions for a change of venue in criminal cases when pre-trial publicity is high and they believe an unbiased jury cannot be selected.
November 10, 2025
high
legal
Change-of-venue motions are a recognized pretrial procedure intended to address potential jury bias caused by publicity.
A grand jury can decline to indict on a felony charge, after which prosecutors may pursue a lesser charge such as a misdemeanor.
November 04, 2025
high
legal_procedure
Describes the role of grand juries and prosecutorial charging discretion in criminal cases.
Victim impact statements are commonly delivered by victims' family members during sentencing hearings in criminal trials.
November 03, 2025
high
procedural
Sentencing phase of criminal proceedings where families describe the harm caused by the offense.
Conditional release agreements in criminal cases can include travel restrictions requiring defendants to remain within a state unless they receive permission to leave, and prosecutors or courts can file motions to revoke conditional release if a defendant is suspected of fleeing the jurisdiction.
November 03, 2025
high
legal
Describes standard conditions and enforcement actions related to conditional release in criminal proceedings.
In capital (death-penalty) cases, courts can appoint public defense counsel and jurisdictions may need to retain defense teams that are certified or experienced in capital defense.
November 02, 2025
high
legal
Procedural requirement for providing adequate defense in death-penalty prosecutions.
Some U.S. states maintain pooled funds, such as an 'aggravated-murder defense' fund, to help offset public defense costs in capital murder cases.
November 02, 2025
high
policy
State-level fiscal mechanisms intended to share or reduce the cost of providing defense in capital cases.
The criminal justice system in the United States is commonly described as comprising three components: policing ('cops'), the courts, and corrections.
October 29, 2025
high
conceptual
General description of the main components of the criminal justice system.
Individuals arrested in one U.S. state may be held pending extradition to another U.S. state where there is an outstanding warrant or criminal charges.
October 29, 2025
high
legal
Interstate extradition is a standard legal process for transferring custody of suspects between states.
Body-worn camera video is commonly used as key evidentiary material in legal proceedings involving law enforcement use-of-force incidents.
October 22, 2025
high
procedural
Body-camera footage frequently plays a central role in investigations and trials concerning officer-involved shootings and use-of-force reviews.
Trials that address alleged law enforcement use of force frequently feature expert witnesses on police training, generally accepted policing practices, use-of-force standards, and video evidence analysis.
October 22, 2025
high
procedural
Expert testimony is often used to interpret training, policies, and technical evidence in use-of-force cases.
In U.S. capital cases, defense attorneys can file post-conviction petitions requesting DNA testing of evidence and can seek court-issued stays of execution pending judicial rulings on such testing.
October 14, 2025
high
procedural
Post-conviction legal remedies and procedural options related to evidence testing and execution stays.
Florida carries out executions using a three-drug lethal injection protocol consisting of a sedative, a paralytic, and a drug that stops the heart, according to the Florida Department of Corrections.
October 14, 2025
high
procedural
Describes the components of Florida's lethal injection protocol as reported by the state corrections agency.
Persons arrested in a jurisdiction different from where alleged crimes occurred are commonly booked on 'fugitive from justice' charges in the arresting jurisdiction and may be extradited back to the originating jurisdiction to face additional charges.
October 08, 2025
high
procedural
Describes standard legal procedures for handling fugitives arrested outside the jurisdiction of the originating charges.
Under Texas law, a hate crime conviction is treated as a sentencing enhancement rather than as a separate criminal charge.
June 03, 2025
high
legal
Statutory treatment of hate crimes in Texas criminal sentencing.
In March 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that states must allow condemned inmates to have a spiritual adviser present with them in the death chamber.
March 01, 2022
high
legal
U.S. Supreme Court ruling regarding access of spiritual advisers during executions.
Jeffrey Epstein died in 2019 while incarcerated on suspicion of having sex-trafficked underage victims.
August 10, 2019
high
temporal
Epstein's death occurred while he was in custody on federal sex-trafficking-related allegations.
The previous single-year record for executions in Florida was eight executions in 2014.
December 31, 2014
high
temporal
Historical single-year execution totals for the state of Florida.
The highest previous annual total of executions in Florida was eight in 2014.
January 01, 2014
high
temporal
Historical annual execution counts for the state of Florida.
Jeffrey Epstein pleaded guilty in 2008 to charges related to prostitution and was a convicted sex offender.
January 01, 2008
high
temporal
Criminal conviction and status of Jeffrey Epstein.
Jeffrey Epstein pleaded guilty to lesser state charges in 2008, became a registered sex offender, and nevertheless continued to associate with elite social and professional circles afterward.
January 01, 2008
high
temporal
Summary of Epstein's 2008 legal outcome and its relation to his subsequent social associations
The United States reinstated the death penalty in 1976.
January 01, 1976
high
temporal
Historical milestone marking the end of the 1972–1976 de facto moratorium on capital punishment in the U.S.
The U.S. Supreme Court restored the death penalty in 1976.
January 01, 1976
high
temporal
Historical legal milestone restoring capital punishment at the federal level.
The Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution provides a right against self-incrimination, allowing individuals to refuse to answer questions that could incriminate them during law enforcement questioning.
December 15, 1791
high
constitutional
U.S. constitutional protection invoked during police custody or interrogation
Michael Nachmanoff argued and won a U.S. Supreme Court case that contributed to reducing racial disparities in federal crack cocaine sentencing.
high
legal-precedent
Notable appellate litigation achievement affecting federal sentencing.
A defense mitigation witness list in criminal cases is used to identify witnesses intended to testify during the sentencing phase and can include professionals such as psychologists and corrections experts.
high
procedural
Describes the purpose and typical content of a mitigation witness list filed by a defense team.
Prosecutorial witness lists in criminal cases commonly include a range of witnesses such as investigators, forensic experts, and victims' relatives.
high
procedural
Describes typical categories of witnesses prosecutors identify for trial.
In capital cases, plea agreements can include terms where a defendant pleads guilty in exchange for the state agreeing not to seek the death penalty.
high
procedural
Describes a common form of plea bargaining used in cases involving potential capital punishment.
Materials from criminal investigations can be protected by grand jury secrecy rules, which may limit disclosure of those materials to third parties or the public.
high
legal
Legal constraints on disclosure of investigatory records.
State governors in the United States have the authority to grant clemency in criminal cases, including capital cases.
high
legal
Clemency is an executive power available to governors that can commute or pardon criminal sentences, and is commonly sought in death penalty cases.
People sentenced to death typically pursue multiple post-conviction remedies such as appeals, requests for new trials, and clemency petitions.
high
procedural
Post-conviction processes in capital cases commonly include appellate litigation, motions for retrial, and executive clemency requests.
South Carolina permits condemned inmates to choose their method of execution from among lethal injection, firing squad, or the electric chair.
high
legal
Refers to the execution-method options available to condemned inmates under South Carolina practice or statute.
A criminal plea agreement can include a defendant pleading guilty in exchange for being spared the death penalty and waiving the right to appeal or to seek a sentence reduction.
high
legal_procedure
Describes a type of term that may appear in negotiated plea agreements in capital cases.
Little Saint James is an island in the U.S. Virgin Islands that has been identified as the primary residence of Jeffrey Epstein.
high
geographic
Geographic identification of Little Saint James in relation to Jeffrey Epstein.
Under United States federal law, a conviction for murder in connection with federal charges can carry a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.
high
legal
Maximum penalties available under federal criminal statutes for murder-related convictions.
Under U.S. federal law, a presidential commutation of sentence generally cannot be fully reversed.
high
legal
Legal principle governing the reversibility of commuted sentences.