Reuters/Ipsos poll finds one-third support a second execution attempt after a failure
Rights & JusticeWell-coveredThe Facts
- Thirty-three percent of respondents supported a second execution attempt after a failed first attempt.
- Thirty-nine percent favored life imprisonment after a failed execution attempt.
- Twenty-six percent of poll respondents were unsure which option was better.
- The Reuters/Ipsos survey was conducted nationwide over four days and completed October 19.
- Tennessee faces the question after Christa Pike survived two lethal-injection attempts last month.
- The poll found less support for another execution attempt than for life imprisonment.
Context
What prompted the poll question?
The poll was conducted after Christa Pike survived two lethal-injection attempts in Tennessee last month. U.S. News & World R… Independent WPBF
How was the poll conducted?
Reuters/Ipsos surveyed 1,679 U.S. adults online nationwide over four days ending October 19; the reported margin of error was two percentage points. EconoTimes Business Standard
What broader death-penalty views did the survey find?
Fifty-five percent of respondents supported the death penalty for the gravest crimes, compared with 31% who opposed it and 13% who did not know or did not answer. EconoTimes EconoTimes
Where Left and Right agree, and where they split
- Where Left and Right agree
- Both cite the same poll: a 33-39 split favoring life imprisonment over a third attempt, with neither side disputing that Pike survived two failed lethal injections last month.
- Where Left and Right split
- The left and the right split on whether Tennessee must justify trying again or the sentence just stands.
- Why they won’t converge
- The divide is one of trust in institutions: whether a government that failed twice at execution retains legitimate authority to try again, a question public-opinion percentages cannot settle because it turns on institutional standing, not survey results.
How left and right read it
A state that has already failed twice at killing someone should have to justify a third try, and it cannot: only 33 percent back another attempt, while 39 percent would let the prisoner serve life instead, and 26 percent cannot say. That is thin ground for machinery this grave. Christa Pike survived two lethal-injection attempts last month, so Tennessee should stop, commute the sentence, and leave the needle alone.
“The findings highlight minority public support for re-executing inmates who survive, a dilemma Tennessee currently faces after 50-year-old Christa Pike survived two lethal injection attempts in Nashville last month.” — The Independent
A lawfully imposed sentence is not voided by a procedure that fails. That is why the burden belongs to those who would set the judgment aside rather than to Tennessee: a four-day national survey completed October 19, finding 33 percent for a second attempt, 39 percent for life imprisonment and 26 percent unsure, decides nothing about what Christa Pike was sentenced to after surviving two attempts last month.
Pike's sentence stands on paper; the poll shows the public isn't sure the needle should get a third try.
The receipts — 17 sources
Wire services (3)
Independent coverage (14)
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