From The New Yorker · Amy Davidson Sorkin · · 2m
America's death penalty spectacle
Two botched executions expose the brutality of capital punishment and the dangers of turning it into public entertainment.
In brief
Two botched executions expose the brutality of capital punishment and the dangers of turning it into public entertainment. Tennessee's failed execution of Christa Pike and Pete Hegseth's plan to livestream Nidal Hasan's firing squad execution have reignited debate over how America carries out the death penalty…
Tennessee's failed execution
On September thirtieth, Tennessee attempted to execute Christa Pike using pentobarbital injections. Pike survived two doses and remained alive when witnesses left at eight fifty-three pm.
What witnesses saw
Journalists and Colleen Slemmer's mother watched from separate rooms as Pike spoke her last words, sang with her spiritual adviser, then complained her arm hurt.
The curtain hid the worst
Most of what happened occurred behind a closed curtain. Medical workers had struggled with the intravenous line, using at least seven needles before the injection began, according to Pike's lawyers.
“I cannot emphasize enough how much of whatever just happened happened behind a closed curtain.”
A pattern of problems
Lethal injection is the most common execution method in the United States. According to the Associated Press, intravenous problems have derailed more than half a dozen executions since two thousand nine.
Pike's condition now
Pike was unconscious for several days before waking in a hospital, confused and in pain.It is unclear if she will fully recover.
Hegseth's livestream plan
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth invited the nation to watch Nidal Hasan's execution by firing squad on December third via livestream.Hasan, a former Army major, killed thirteen people at Fort Hood in two thousand nine.
“No-brainer. Execution by firing squad. And we'll make sure that people are able to watch it, that it's public.”
Why the livestream alarmed people
Hasan has said he wants to be a martyr.A public execution might help him achieve that.There has not been a public execution in the United States in almost ninety years.
Trump calls off the broadcast
President Donald Trump cancelled the livestream after an uproar. He said on Truth Social that though he thought it would send a useful message about American strength, many good people would rather not watch.
“many very good and well meaning people would rather not watch.”
America's isolation on executions
Of thirty-eight nations in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, only the United States and Japan regularly carry out death sentences. Only a few countries conduct public executions, notably Iran and Afghanistan.
The line between routine and unbearable
The Eighth Amendment forbids cruel and unusual punishments. The Supreme Court has gradually tightened its standards on capital punishment, but the Pike and Hasan cases show how thin the line is between routine execution and…
What to remember
Tennessee's failed execution of Christa Pike and Pete Hegseth's plan to livestream Nidal Hasan's firing squad execution have reignited debate over how America carries out the death penalty.
