‘Christa Pike Sentenced to Lifetime Execution.” The headline was from The Onion, the news parody website. But if you put it to a poll on X, it would have likely come in second only to shooting her between the eyes while she was unconscious after the State of Tennessee failed to execute her. It seems somewhat bizarre that at a time when advocacy groups and mainstream media outlets are cheerleading prescriptions and other forms of doctor assistance for “suicide,” for not the first time even this year, the Volunteer State couldn’t pull off a successful intravenous pentobarbital delivery to a convicted murderer. Two doses are believed to have gone into her tissue instead of her bloodstream. I’d like to think it’s because of the innate goodness of a state known for its commitment to civil society — it just couldn’t inflict death. But, of course, that doesn’t follow, because it wound up being a kind of torture. “As it should be,” some reacted. After all, that’s what she did to her victim all those decades ago. As with most of life, it’s more complicated than that. But that doesn’t mean we can’t learn the right lessons.
“Where am I, and who are you?” we are told were Pike’s new first words. “She’s asked about her team. She’s asked about the victim’s family,” one of her lawyers said. After more than 30 years on death row for a heinous crime, Pike woke up after six days of unconsciousness, understandably confused and “frustrated,” one of her lawyers said. While she was sleeping, the governor put a hold on executions. He’s being called on to commute her death sentence. That only seems right and just at this point.
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