Overview
- The Reuters/Ipsos poll of 1,679 U.S. adults finds one‑third of Americans favor a second execution attempt after a failed one, 39% prefer the convict serve life in prison, and 26% are unsure.
- The survey shows overall support for the death penalty at 55%, down from 63% in a 2017 Reuters/Ipsos poll, and 71% of respondents said broadcasting executions online or on TV is inappropriate.
- Tennessee now faces a decision about whether to seek a second execution after Christa Pike survived two lethal injections that left her unconscious, critically ill and with severe arm injuries before she later regained consciousness.
- Legal precedent allows states to schedule a second execution date after a failed attempt, as the U.S. Supreme Court has permitted in past cases, which creates a clear but contested path for officials who want to try again.
- States that keep the death penalty are struggling to obtain traditional drugs such as pentobarbital, prompting consideration of alternatives like firing squads or nitrogen suffocation and intensifying debate over execution methods and public policy.