Christa Pike survived two lethal injections. Now Americans have delivered their verdict on whether to try again
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Only a third of Americans believe authorities should attempt a second execution if a first attempt fails, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted following a botched lethal injection in Tennessee.
The four-day survey, completed on Monday, showed 39 percent of respondents thought convicts should instead serve life in prison after a failed execution, while 26 percent were unsure of the best approach.
The findings highlight minority public support for re-executing inmates who survive, a dilemma Tennessee currently faces after 50-year-old Christa Pike survived two lethal injection attempts in Nashville last month.
Pike, a convicted murderer, was hospitalized unconscious in critical condition with severe arm injuries after two syringes of pentobarbital failed to kill her—Tennessee’s second botched lethal injection this year. She regained consciousness five days later.
Most countries and 23 US states have abolished capital punishment. States maintaining the death penalty have struggled to obtain execution drugs, leading some to consider alternative methods like firing squads.
A slight majority of Americans—55 percent—continue to support the death penalty for severe crimes, down from 63 percent in a 2017 Reuters/Ipsos poll. About 31 percent opposed it, while 13 percent did not know or did not answer.
The issue has grown more urgent as courts consider whether states can make second execution attempts.
The US Supreme Court recently permitted a state to schedule a second execution date following a failure. Kenneth Smith, convicted of a 1988 murder-for-hire, survived a 2022 Alabama execution attempt when staff failed to set up intravenous lines. Alabama executed him on its second attempt in 2024 using nitrogen gas suffocation.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth recently suggested a historic first livestream of an execution: the planned firing squad death of Nidal Hasan, the former US Army major who killed 13 people at Fort Hood in Texas.
Following widespread criticism, including from Republican lawmakers, President Donald Trump canceled the livestream, though officials still intend to carry out the execution on December 3.
Some 46 percent of Americans, including 29 percent of Democrats and 71 percent of Republicans, considered executing Hasan by firing squad appropriate. However, 71 percent of respondents, including majorities from both parties, said publicly showing executions on television or the internet was inappropriate.
The nationwide online Reuters/Ipsos poll surveyed 1,679 US adults and had a margin of error of 2 percentage points.
