As so-called modern Americans, we like to believe that we have risen above some of the more, so we think, violent and “barbaric” practices of our ancestors. No facet of our justice system better exemplifies this belief than the ever-evolving definition of “cruel and unusual punishment” under the Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
“Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.” So it says, right there in the document. But at the time it was written, hanging was the most common form of capital punishment in not only the United States but in the Western World. Yet no one is hanged today, not since 1996, and it had been falling out of fashion long before Bill Bailey took his long drop.
Our sensibilities have changed, and we no longer deem it humane to execute criminals in such a fashion. We initially tried to replace it with the electric chair, using, at the time, modern technology to quickly and efficiently deal with the criminal element. Then we supposedly upgraded to even more humane methods, namely the gas chamber and lethal injection. The latter currently stands as the most common form of execution in the United States.
Despite any claims toward being more “humane,” executions by lethal injection can still be horribly botched. Case in point: the failed execution of murderer Christa Pike in Tennessee on Wednesday.
Pike remained among the living after the administration of two doses of lethal drugs as part of her scheduled execution Wednesday evening. After the botched lethal injection, Pike was transported to a local hospital, where she bafflingly received “lifesaving medical care,” according to her attorneys.
In response to this embarrassing muck-up, Republican Gov. Bill Lee immediately halted any further executions in 2026 and ordered “a comprehensive, third-party review to determine exactly what occurred,” according to Fox News.
In contrast to Lee’s limp-wristed act to deny justice even further by halting further executions, gubernatorial candidate and current Tennessee Sen. Marsha Blackburn said, “This situation is tragic. Christa Pike should have been executed long ago. Now, this botched process is extending the pain for the family of Colleen Slemmer. … The answer is simple: bring back the electric chair and deliver justice for these victims swiftly.”
Blackburn is exactly right. People who commit especially heinous crimes should be dealt with via the death penalty and dealt with both efficiently and quickly. Christa Pike should have shuffled off her mortal coil long ago, and justice should have been dispensed with a far more reliable tool.