The Supreme Court of the United States cleared the way for the execution of Christa Pike on Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2026, overturning a stay imposed by a lower court earlier that day. Ms. Pike, 50, is Tennessee’s only female death row inmate. If the execution proceeds, she will become the first woman executed in Tennessee in more than 200 years and only the 19th woman executed in the U.S. in the last 50 years.
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
The legal limbo began just hours before Ms. Pike was set to die by lethal injection in Nashville. A divided panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit had issued a pause on the execution, stating they needed more time to consider arguments from her legal team. The defense had argued that her initial trial failed to consider her history of sexual abuse and neglect as a child. Pike’s attorneys and more than 100 women’s advocacy groups and sex abuse experts argued that the process of being executed by lethal injection would make her feel like she is being raped again, which they contended amounts to cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the U.S. Constitution.
Jonathan Skrmetti and the Supreme Court
The office of Jonathan Skrmetti, Tennessee’s attorney general, appealed directly to the Supreme Court, describing the defense’s argument as a technical issue
and vowing «добиваться исполнения законного приговора». The Supreme Court’s conservative majority cleared the way for the execution on Wednesday evening in a 6-3 decision, though the court did not explain its reasoning in the order. Justice Brett Kavanaugh granted the application to vacate the stay.
The court’s three liberal justices—Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Ketanji Brown Jackson—dissented. Justice Sotomayor wrote that the decision was “stunning” and cleared the way for the state to execute Ms. Pike before her pending legal challenges to her conviction can be properly considered.
She stated: «Я не вижу причин сокращать обычный процесс апелляционного пересмотра, особенно в свете серьезных последствий ошибочного решения», добавив, что «желание Теннесси ускорить казнь Пайк на несколько дней или даже недель не может перевесить ее основной интерес в [ее] собственной жизни
».
Colleen Slemmer and Governor Bill Lee
Christa Pike was sentenced to death in 1996 for the 1995 murder of Colleen Slemmer. Ms. Pike was 18 when she and her then-boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp, beat, tortured, and killed the 19-year-old, whom they met at a job training camp for troubled teens. Tennessee Governor Bill Lee announced on Sept. 28 that he upheld Ms. Pike’s death sentence and was not planning to intervene, providing no further explanation. On Sept. 29, Amnesty International joined advocacy groups in calling for clemency.
Riverbend Maximum Security Institution
The Supreme Court’s ruling was issued shortly before 18:00 local time on Wednesday. The state’s execution order was due to expire at midnight. A spokesperson for the Tennessee Department of Corrections indicated that the execution was expected to take place at the Riverbend Maximum Security Institution. If the deadline passed without the execution occurring, the Tennessee Supreme Court would be required to set a new execution date.
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