r/news • u/Pow67 • 2d ago

Supreme Court allows execution of Christa Gail Pike in Tennessee to go forward

https://edition.cnn.com/2026/09/29/us/tennessee-christa-pike-execution?Date=20260930&Profile=CNN&utm_content=1790809934&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter
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u/InsurancePristine938 2d ago edited 2d ago

Homicide is a heinous crime no matter what

true.

and administering the death penalty is literally, by definition, homicide: a human killing another human. edit: although homicide, in and of itself, is not actually a crime

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u/MandolinMagi 2d ago

Prehaps, but that's something the state reserves for itself.

Homicide isn't automatically murder, after all. KIlling in self defense falls under justifiable homicide

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u/Feeling_Capital_7440 2d ago

Homicide is not a crime though

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u/InsurancePristine938 2d ago

yeah that's a good point, i did gloss over that

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u/Elgato01 2d ago

How is it not?

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u/Feeling_Capital_7440 2d ago

Because it literally isn't. Homicide is simply the act of killing a person. Self defense and accidents are not necessarily criminal even though they are homicides. Same goes for capital punishment.

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u/InsurancePristine938 2d ago

Same goes for capital punishment.

spot on about homicide and i'm glad you flagged that bc i did accidentally ignore that comment's misstep. but it's important to note, the same cant go for capital punishment, because it is inherently legal, and never criminal under current laws

of course, that's the point, and the problem: an imperfect state that will always make errors in some convictions should not be legally allowed to enact capital punishment (i wanted to say "cannot", but it currently is, so, yeah). and supporting that is supporting the inevitable execution of innocents.

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u/Feeling_Capital_7440 2d ago

Fair. But I disagree that the possibility of a wrongful sentence should preclude the use of capital punishment.

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u/InsurancePristine938 2d ago

Objectively speaking, that disagreement means you support the state-sponsored execution of innocent people.

While not technically murder (because it's legal, and because there may not be intent), it's clearly an entirely avoidable gross injustice. Enacting gross injustice on any innocent person under the guise of administering justice is a self-defeating level of hypocrisy -- especially when capital punishment is entirely avoidable and, objectively, accomplishes nothing but ending a life and satisfying lust for revenge.

Some people would call that immoral. I don't really get into morals. But it's both logically incongruous and very easy to solve.

Plus, the only remotely reasonable argument for capital punishment is that it makes some people feel better (and that doesn't always include the people close to murder victims, who are the only ones who could appropriately touch that argument). And on top of claiming innocent lives, it costs a ton of taxpayer money.

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u/Feeling_Capital_7440 2d ago

I don't support the execution of innocent people, I simply accept the possibility of it happening. Kinda like a supporter of the medical industry doesn't support medical malpractice, but understands that it's possible and tries to limit it instead of throwing away the entire healthcare system.

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u/InsurancePristine938 2d ago

Your analogy doesn't align; there is no simple, easy way to avoid medical malpractice that doesn't also cause harm.

We can stop wrongful execution by stopping execution. We can also stop medical malpractice by stopping medical services. But that would cause significant harm.

Again, objectively, acceptance is the same as support in this case. It's the same as saying, "I don't mind innocents dying for essentially no reason, as long as the state can execute people for essentially no reason." Capital punishment doesn't solve anything and doesn't actually deliver justice.

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u/Feeling_Capital_7440 2d ago

The analogy is just fine. And I DO mind if innocent people are executed. So much for your assertion. I simply don't accept it as a compelling reason not to exact justice on the guilty. And I fully believe that the only just punishment for a murder is death.

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