Florida leads the country in death row exonerations—but still kills more prisoners than any other state

With ten executions already carried out this year, Florida is on pace to surpass its own record from last year for most prisoners executed since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976. 

Last year, Florida executed 19 people, more than any other state—and is on pace to top that list again in 2026.

On July 14, the state executed 74-year-old Army veteran Dennis Sochor for a 1982 murder after he spent nearly four decades on death row.

This Tuesday—for the first time in over six decades—the state has two executions scheduled on the same day.

That’s when James Duckett, 68, is scheduled to die at noon. Six hours later, Dominick Occhicone, 80, is scheduled to become the oldest person executed in Florida’s modern history

All three men are convicted murders sen­tenced to death by non-unan­i­mous juries, a prac­tice that was abolished for Florida in 2016 and then re-imple­ment­ed in 2023 following a policy change pushed by Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Tampa-based prisoner rights advocates, working to stop the executions, argue the record-setting pace the state is on reflects an unfair politicization of Florida’s justice system. 

Grace Hanna, Executive Director of Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (FADP), told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay that Florida’s accelerated killings are “not in alignment with what Americans and Floridians want,” while citing national polling showing declining support for capital punishment.

Looking at Sochor and Occhicone’s cases specifically, Hanna, whose cousin was killed during a robbery, said the circumstances surrounding both men provide context that can be lost when executions are reduced to politicized headlines.

With Occhicone, Hanna emphasized his age. He is set to be executed shortly before his 81st birthday, making him the oldest Floridian ever executed.

After 40 years incarcerated, Occhicone deals with kidney disease and a blocked artery in his heart, needing prison guards to assist him in using the stairs and showering. His lawyer argues that his age and poor health should keep him from needing to be executed. 

“In this pursuit of retribution, the state of Florida is executing sick elderly men who don’t need to be executed for public safety,” Hannah said.

In Sochor’s case, Hanna pointed to the fact that the victim’s body was never recovered and said the prosecution relied heavily on testimony from a key witness who received immunity for his testimony. 

Sochor has not been proven innocent, but Hanna’s desire for more evidence nods at the state’s track record of deadly mistakes. Florida also leads the nation in death row exonerations, with 30 since 1973, per the Death Penalty Information Center.

The latest was Tampa resident Robert DuBoise, who was exonerated in 2020 after spending nearly 37 years in prison for a conviction based on faulty bite mark evidence. In 2024, the City of Tampa agreed to pay DuBoise a $14 million settlement. 

Pamela Colloff, a ProPublica and New York Times Magazine reporter, told WMNF Tampa last week that exonerations are extremely difficult to win.

“That suggests that there are other people who are wrongly convicted who are sitting on Florida’s death row,” Colloff—who will speak in St. Pete this Monday—added. “When we have a punishment that is irreversible, combined with a high error rate. I would hope that people would want more transparency about why certain people are selected and when.”

Maria DeLiberato, FADP’s legal and policy director, said the recent pace of executions is unlike anything she’s seen in her 20 years as a capital defense lawyer.

Nearly 250 prisoners are on Florida’s death row. One of her biggest concerns is the amount of discretion the governor has in deciding when execution warrants are signed and which cases move forward. 

In fact, Colloff pointed out, Florida is unique in states carrying out the death penalty in that the governor has sole discretion over who gets executed and when. And despite the state having some of the country’s most robust Sunshine Laws, records surrounding the governor’s death row decision making are some of the hardest to get.

“When it comes to who is being selected and why these dates are being selected, that is shrouded in secrecy,” Coloff added. “There, there is no transparency.”

The lack of explanation behind DeSantis’s decisions concerns DeLiberato. She believes the state has used record-setting milestones like age and pace to generate headlines and reinforce a tough-on-crime political message to help with campaigns. If DeSantis isn’t trying to look good for another presidential run, the execution record could help reelect his attorney general, James Uthmeier, DeLiberato said.

“If the state of Florida has a death penalty, it should be transparent and non-political,” she said. 

And yet, in the last 35 years, the number of death sentences handed down by Florida juries has fallen from 46 to just five in 2025. 

“Florida has increased executions at a time when juries have become more hesitant than ever to recommend capital punishment,” DeLiberato said. “Why is our administration killing two people a month, when it’s in opposition to what the people want?” 

The governor’s office declined to comment, but DeSantis has repeatedly hinted at the answer to this question, saying, “justice delayed is justice denied.”

Rev. Dr. Jeff Hood, founder and head of the Execution Intervention Project, told CL he understands DeSantis’ desire to seek justice for victims and their families, but questioned whether executions carried out decades later truly accomplish that goal.

“My first thought when people say that is, of course they’re right,” Hood said. “So why would you give someone a penalty that takes 40 years to carry out instead of life in prison? 

“The death penalty creates a false sense of justice,” he continued.

Hood has served as a priest for people on death row nationally for 15 years, being with them both spiritually and physically through their final months on death row. He has witnessed 12 executions firsthand, including the two most recent Florida executions. He argues that most Florida residents who agree with the death penalty would change their minds if they saw what he did.

“The greatest danger of the death penalty is distance,” Hood said. “It’s hard to kill somebody when you have to look them in the eye.”

Most people, including jurors and elected officials, never witness the punishment they authorize. That distance, he argued, makes it easier for those on death row to be dehumanized and reduced to the crimes that were often committed decades before. 

Through a liaison, Sochor said that his own dying wish was to have Gov. Ron DeSantis watch his execution. There’s no record of DeSantis watching any execution that he’s ordered.

Looking at the cases of Sochor and Dominick Occhicone, Hood argues that the state is executing men who have changed significantly since they were convicted of crimes decades ago. He questioned what purpose their executions now serve.

“Show me someone who is the same person they were 30 years ago,” he said.

“Nothing would change in our lives if they lived out the rest of their lives in prison.”

Research has consistently shown that death penalty cases cost substantially more taxpayer funding than life in prison cases, raising questions about whether executing elderly inmates after decades on death row is worth the cost to taxpayers.

For Hood, the issue goes back to the distance that separates most Floridians from the reality of executions.

“As long as people in Florida don’t know who these people are, these executions will continue.”

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This article appears in July 23 – 29, 2026.