Supreme Court Allows Execution of Tennessee Inmate Christa Pike

The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday night cleared the way for the execution of Christa Pike, the only woman on Tennessee’s death row. The court issued a brief, unsigned order that lifted a ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit.

The 6th Circuit had paused Pike’s execution shortly before its scheduled time on Wednesday morning. Justice Sonia Sotomayor dissented from the decision to lift the stay of execution. Justices Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson joined Sotomayor's three-page opinion.

Pike received a conviction and death sentence for the 1995 murder of Colleen Slemmer. She sought post-conviction relief in state court, arguing her trial counsel should have presented evidence of sexual abuse she experienced as a child during her sentencing. Her attempts to obtain state and federal post-conviction relief were unsuccessful.

On Tuesday, Pike filed a motion in federal court to reopen her federal post-conviction case. She cited the state’s recent concession that she "was a teenaged survivor of child sexual abuse and rape who was struggling with unmedicated bipolar disorder and PTSD at the time of her crime." Pike noted this concession differed from previous state contentions.

By a 2-1 vote, the 6th Circuit on Wednesday morning put Pike’s execution on hold. This action allowed the court time to consider arguments made by Pike and the state. The state subsequently appealed to the Supreme Court.

Tennessee asked the justices to lift the lower court’s order, referring to Pike’s latest filing as an "abusive, tactical delay" and an attempt to re-litigate a previously rejected claim. Pike’s lawyers responded by urging the Supreme Court to permit the 6th Circuit to issue its decision.

Shortly before 7 p.m. EDT, the Supreme Court granted the state’s request without providing an explanation. Justice Sotomayor stated that the majority’s decision to lift the 6th Circuit’s order "interferes with the Sixth Circuit’s routine administrative handling of a capital case and unnecessarily prevents that court from giving due consideration to Pike’s claim." Sotomayor added that "Tennessee’s desire to expedite Pike’s execution by a few days or even weeks cannot outweigh her ‘fundamental interest in [her] own life.’"

A spokesperson for the Tennessee Department of Correction informed the Associated Press that the department would "proceed with Pike’s execution Wednesday night ahead of a midnight cutoff on the state’s execution order." Later on Wednesday, the AP reported that "Tennessee officials were unable to put" Pike to death. Pike’s lawyers told the AP that she had survived "two doses of a lethal drug" before being "taken by ambulance from the prison" to a hospital.

During the execution process, Pike’s lawyers asked the Tennessee Supreme Court to intervene. They sought to "immediately halt and stay the execution," asserting she experienced "unnecessary agony" and that the process violated her right to be executed free of cruel and unusual punishment. They also filed motions in a federal district court and the 6th Circuit.

Tennessee Governor Bill Lee subsequently ordered a halt to the state’s remaining execution for the year, that of Gary Sutton, which had been scheduled for December 3. Lee stated, "Carrying out a lawfully imposed sentence is among the State’s most serious responsibilities, and the people of Tennessee expect it to be done in a manner that is not only legal and constitutional, but is effective."