Seventeen people, all male, were executed in the United States in 2020, sixteen by lethal injection and one by electrocution. The most recent execution by electrocution occurred this year. The federal government of the United States executed ten people in 2020, ending a hiatus on federal executions which had lasted for over 17 years. State executions dropped significantly in 2020 compared to previous years, primarily due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. One condemned inmate, Jimmy Fletcher Meders, was originally scheduled to be executed in Georgia on January 16, 2020. However, the Georgia State Board of Pardons and Paroles commuted his death sentence to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole just hours before his scheduled execution.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a number of executions that had been planned for 2020 were postponed and/or rescheduled. Texas postponed the executions of seven inmates who were due to be executed between March and September, beginning with Carlos Trevino, whose execution was postponed three times (first on March 11, then June 3, and finally September 30). Tennessee also postponed the executions of four inmates who were due to be executed between June and December. In addition, the December 8 execution of Lisa Montgomery by the federal government was postponed by the DC District Court after both of her defense attorneys caught COVID-19. She was executed the following year, on January 13, 2021.