When it comes to the death penalty, I find it rather surprising that some people are taken aback when I say I’m against using the electric chair. But, honestly, the delays in carrying out executions leave me conflicted. I mean, maybe we need to use electric chairs—just until we start catching up on the backlog. In the meantime, it wouldn’t hurt to let those on death row have their final meals buffet-style.
Tennessee spent three decades preparing to execute Christa Pike, and then, on the crucial night? Everything went wrong. Pike, aged 50, was meant to be the first woman executed in the state in over two hundred years. It felt like a strange twist on diversity and inclusion, don’t you think?
She murdered her classmate, Colleen Slemmer, in Knoxville back in 1995. Since then, she has been incarcerated; all legal avenues had been exhausted, and even the governor chose not to intervene. The U.S. Supreme Court had given the green light. Yet, the Department of Corrections couldn’t perform a simple task.
We’ve spent about $80,000 a year for her imprisonment—totaling around $2.4 million—plus what must be a similar amount for her legal appeals. It’s a bit ludicrous.
When they tried to execute Pike with lethal injection, the effort failed after two doses, leading to her hospitalization. Interestingly, the mixture of three different lethal drugs didn’t do the trick. Right now, it’s notable that more women in Tennessee have died from the Covid vaccine than from lethal injection executions.
Women tend to be resilient. Friends of mine in Los Angeles said they weren’t surprised she survived two attempts at lethal injection. On the other hand, people from Beverly Hills point out that a single Kardashian has endured countless injections of Botox and other fillers without issue.
Meanwhile, the focus has conveniently shifted away from Pike’s victim and the horrible crime committed. The Knoxville Police Chief labeled the murder scene as the “worst” he’d seen in his lengthy career, leaving behind deeply traumatic memories for those involved in the case.
It might have been better to use a firing squad. Although critics would likely label that as “cruel and unusual punishment,” it feels like a more straightforward option. After all, isn’t it more typical to hear about shootings in many big cities run by liberal administrations?
If the state botched this execution, they could have just dropped her in some areas of Memphis, and let her punishment be carried out informally.
However, now in the eyes of many liberals against the death penalty, she’s somehow become the victim. They seem to overlook the gravity of her crime and the reasons behind it. Did the other girl wear the same dress? Have the same hairstyle? Does that even matter?
Governor Bill Lee has called for a third-party review and put a pause on other scheduled executions. The details of the protocol are kept secret, so the public can’t really see what went wrong. There’s even a possibility she could file a lawsuit. The law is a bit murky here, as it doesn’t specify what the state owes someone they’ve attempted to execute twice.
While her legal future remains uncertain, Ms. Pike has at least changed her Facebook status to “almost executed.”
This review process will probably drag on forever. I can only imagine the report will be filled with bureaucratic jargon like “deviation from the norm” and “capacity restraints” alongside phrases about implementing “appropriate measures.”
Although she’s busy with another case, I think Governor Lee should consider letting NYAG Letitia James investigate. Who knows? It might even lead to an indictment of Trump.
It’s surprising how desensitized the younger generation is regarding executions, given that it’s been so long since any were carried out. In conservative Utah, Tyler Robinson, who shot Charlie Kirk, is facing a potential death penalty. He might end up being one of the first members of Generation Z facing such a serious consequence. Picture him getting the “electric couch.”
According to Pew Research, about two-thirds of Americans support the death penalty. The only exception noted is a New York case ruling out executions for individuals with IQs below 59—so I guess AOC is safe.
In states like California, though, the death penalty just isn’t on the table. To seriously consider executing someone there, you’d basically have to cancel their podcast or serve them something with gluten.
