AXIOS (Avery Lotz) - America is seeing an uptick in executions
Data: Death Penalty Information Center ; Chart: Erin Davis/Axios Visuals Florida executed its 14th prisoner for the year on Tuesday, adding to a post-COVID surge in capital punishment that drove more executions last year than any since 2009. The big picture: Even as fewer courts sentence defendants to death and more than half of the states have banned or at least temporarily halted the practice, the Trump administration has overtly cheered on the death penalty. - "The increased number of executions last year reflected the enthusiasm and the urging of this administration to increase use of the death penalty, and the acquiescence of some state officials to that political pressure," Death Penalty Information Center Executive Director…