Some of the 27 states that have the death penalty have not executed anyone in years but others still do – and the divide is rooted in history

The execution of Brian Dorsey in Missouri on Tuesday, despite an extraordinary campaign asking for his sentence to be commuted, brought into focus the issue of the death penalty in the US – one of the few countries in the western world that still uses corporal punishment.

Dorsey, 52, was executed for the 2006 murders of his cousin and her husband, after the number of people executed in the US rose to 24 in 2023, from 18 in 2022.

The numbers do little, however, to illustrate how unevenly the death penalty is applied in the country: and the growing opposition to capital punishment among Americans.

“It is an act of state violence that we’re using as a punishment,” said Elyse Max, co-director of Missourians to Abolish the Death Penalty.