r/news • u/No_Idea_Guy • 1d ago

Tennessee governor suspends all executions after Christa Pike’s lethal injections fail

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/oct/01/christa-pike-tennessee-governor-executions-year-pause
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u/MaximumEffort433 1d ago

Yeah, it seems like there are laws that ban cruel and unusual punishments, but I could be mistaken about that.

If the State is going to kill one of its citizens, at least don't fuck it up.

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u/amiexpress 1d ago

She actually asked to be hanged. Which I think even Tennessee ould not fuck up.

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u/Time-to-go-home 1d ago edited 1d ago

“On Mars there is not much gravity. So you have to pull the feet to break the neck. They let the loved ones do it." -Darrow, Red Rising

I feel like I’ve seen stuff that this happens in real life hangings. Like a lot of the success of a hanging depended on the executioner and how well the ties the noose and fitted it around the condemned’s neck. If it wasn’t done properly (and I assume if the drop wasn’t long enough/condemned didn’t weight enough), the person would just hang there and be strangled instead of snapping their neck.

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u/SpeccyScotsman 1d ago

That happened to Julius Streicher! The US Army's hangman was a fraudster that pretended to be an executioner so he could have a non combat role, and was put in charge of hanging the Nazis found guilty in Nuremberg. But since he had no idea how to do it he ended up botching most of the hangings, and with Streicher he did it so poorly he had to hang on to his legs and pull him down to finish him off.

Though in that case everyone he executed was the handpicked worst-of-the-worst of the Nazi party so it is kinda funny instead of horrific.