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Tennessee Death Row Inmate in Hospital After Surviving Two Lethal Injections

Is halting Tennessee's executions a responsible pause to fix a flawed process or proof the state should end capital punishment for good?

9 hours ago·Updated 1 hour ago

Tennessee Death Row Inmate in Hospital After Surviving Two Lethal Injections

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Above: Christa Pike pictured on Jan. 12, 2023. Image credit: Tennessee Department of Corrections

The Facts

Tennessee death row inmate Christa Pike was taken to hospital after she survived two doses of lethal injections, her lawyers said and state officials confirmed late on Wednesday.
CNN
USA Today
New York Post
Pike, 50, has been on death row since she and her then-boyfriend were convicted for the 1995 murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer. She was 18 at the time of the crime and had her execution been successful, she would have been the first woman to undergo capital punishment in Tennessee in more than 200 years.
NPR
France 24
The Wall Street Journal
After Tennessee Governor Bill Lee rejected Pike's clemency request that highlighted childhood neglect, sexual abuse and mental health issues earlier in the week, upholding the intended punishment, the case was subject to last-minute legal challenges.
The National Desk
The Tennessean
WPSD Local 6
WZTV
Hours before the execution was to proceed, the 6th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals voted 2-1 to issue a stay, arguing that Pike's allegations of childhood sexual abuse needed to be further considered. However, the Supreme Court soon overturned the ruling, though dissents came from the court's three liberal justices.
PBS News
WPSD Local 6
WZTV
According to reporting from the Associated Press, which cited execution witnesses, Pike remained awake and questioned a sensation in her arm after she was administered the first dose of pentobarbital. After the second dose was administered by 8:26 p.m. local time, she could be heard snoring behind a closed curtain until the microphone was cut off at 8:53 p.m.
The Associated Press
CNN
A spokesperson for the Tennessee Department of Corrections said it "followed every step of the state's lawful, established execution protocol," adding that the protocol did not allow additional procedures beyond the second dose. Pike's lawyers filed emergency motions to halt the execution, while Lee issued a pause on state executions.
WZTV
Tennessee Lookout
The Associated Press
The Wall Street Journal

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The Spin

Pro-establishment narrative

Carrying out a lawfully imposed sentence of capital punishment is one of the most serious responsibilities a state has and the people of Tennessee not only expect it to be carried legally, but in a manner that's effective as well. As such, all scheduled executions for the remainder of the year have rightly been halted and a third-party agency has been enlisted to investigate exactly what happened.

AP News

Tennessee Department of Correction

Establishment-critical narrative

After another botched injection months ago, the failed execution of Pike is a new low for the level of incompetence and there are insufficient words to describe the barbarity she must have endured. Tennessee has aptly demonstrated that it cannot carry out capital punishment in a manner that preserves human dignity and rule of law. As such, it must immediately halt the practice.

The Tennessean