U.S. Executions at 50-Year Low, Raising Legal Questions

Twenty-five executions occurred in the U.S. in 2024, continuing a decade-long decline to fewer than 30 annually—a sharp drop from 50–100 per year in the 1950s. The Supreme Court's 1976 Gregg v. Georgia decision was supposed to fix constitutional problems with capital punishment. Now, the rarity itself poses an unanswered question: can a punishment become unconstitutional simply by being used so seldom?