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Supreme Court Clears Way for Execution of Christa Pike
Confirmed
In Short: The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday cleared the way for Tennessee to move forward with the execution of Christa Pike, lifting a last-minute stay issued by a federal appeals court less than two hours before she was scheduled to die by lethal injection.
The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday cleared the way for Tennessee to move forward with the execution of Christa Pike, lifting a last-minute stay issued by a federal appeals court less than two hours before she was scheduled to die by lethal injection.
In a 6-3 decision, the high court granted Tennessee’s emergency request to lift the temporary block, allowing the execution to proceed before Pike’s death warrant expires at midnight local time Wednesday.
Pike, now 50, was sentenced to death for the 1995 murder of her classmate, Colleen Slemmer, 19, at the Knoxville Job Corps Center.
Court records indicate that Pike’s abuse began when she was 2 years old, and she is set to become the first woman put to death in Tennessee in more than 200 years.
Hours before the Supreme Court’s intervention, a divided 2-1 panel of the 6th Circuit blocked the execution to consider claims that Pike’s jury never heard about her childhood sexual abuse.
The Tennessee Attorney General's Office argued that Slemmer's family had waited long enough for justice to be carried out and the execution should be allowed to proceed as planned.
Justice Sonia Sotomayor dissented from the decision to lift the stay of execution, joined by Justices Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson.
Pike’s legal team had argued that the abuse and multiple rapes she suffered prior to murdering Colleen Slemmer should be taken into account when deciding whether or not to sentence her to death.
However, in the appeal, Pike’s defense team said the state had openly acknowledged in court Pike’s troubled upbringing.
The Supreme Court ultimately ruled 6-3 to allow her execution to proceed, with Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Ketanji Brown Jackson dissenting, arguing the court had rushed the process and cleared the way for an execution before lower courts could review whether past proceedings were tainted.
What this adds
The Supreme Court's decision allows Tennessee to carry out the execution before Pike’s death warrant expires at midnight local time Wednesday.
Background
The Supreme Court on Tuesday allowed the Trump administration to resume its policy of deporting illegal immigrants to third countries, a move that has been challenged in lower courts.
The Supreme Court, with no dissents, upheld a state court order requiring Missouri to use the 2022 election map, which favors Republicans in six of the eight districts but preserves a key seat for Democrats.
What's confirmed
- A divided U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday cleared the way for Tennessee to move forward with the execution of Christa Pike, lifting a last-minute stay issued by a federal appeals court less than two hours before she was scheduled to die by lethal injection.
- She is set to become the first woman put to death in Tennessee in more than 200 years.
What's still developing
- Judge Richard Griffin dissented, calling the bid a “last-ditch meritless effort to delay a lawful execution,” The Daily Wire reported.
- Pike cut Slemmer’s throat, struck her with a meat cleaver and with a piece of asphalt before they carved a pentagram into her forehead and chest, according to court documents.
- "The Court should vacate the stay of execution to avoid rewarding Pike’s abusive delay tactics, to prevent further trauma to Colleen’s family, and to protect Tennessee’s grave sovereign interest in the execution of its exhaustively reviewed judgment." Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News.
- In a brief, unsigned order, the court lifted a ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit that had paused Pike’s execution shortly before it was scheduled to take place on Wednesday morning.
- “Tennessee’s desire to expedite Pike’s execution by a few days or even weeks cannot outweigh her ‘fundamental interest in [her] own life,’” Sotomayor said.
- She sought post-conviction relief in state court, arguing that at her sentencing her trial counsel should have presented evidence regarding the sexual abuse that she suffered as a child.
- On Tuesday, Pike filed a motion in federal court to reopen her federal post-conviction case.
- In a decision that came down just before 7 p.m., the highest court in the country decided the Sixth District Court of Appeals had overstepped when it instituted a temporary stay on Pike’s execution.
Sources
- Reuterslink
- Dailywirelink
- Justthenewslink
- Scotusbloglink
- WSMVlink
- WVLTlink
- Washingtonexaminerlink
- Wsmvlink
- Al Jazeeralink
- NBC Newslink
- RTE.ielink
- Bozemandailychroniclelink
- Nashvillebannerlink
- Kogolink
- WarpBeat — background on Supreme Court Allows Trump's Third-Country Deportation Policy link
- WarpBeat — background on Supreme Court Rejects Missouri's GOP Map link
- DOWN the RABBIT HOLE News — video link