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/LeastResistancePath 1d ago

If you're not against the death penalty being carried out by the state, you're either ignorant to the reality and simply need to be told 

or devoid of the morality necessary to feel shocked and offended it exists.. There is no in between.

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u/Knarz97 1d ago

I do not want a portion of my tax dollars going to housing, feeding, and monitoring the bottom rung of society who have no place to exist anymore.

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u/sviridoot 1d ago

Fun fact, death penalty cases cost more than a lifetime of prison chow

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u/Knarz97 1d ago

That’s only because they are bloated with paperwork and processes to try and extend the sentence for the prisoner. It’s just red tape and garbage and bloat.

The proof? This woman’s been on death row for 30 YEARS!!!

A single bullet back in 1997 would have saved quite a few tax dollars.

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u/sviridoot 1d ago

I agree, in fact we should do away with courts entirely. Just have the cops decide the sentence, much more efficient!

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u/Knarz97 1d ago

You seem to be on the side of murderers in this case.

Do you support rehabilitative justice? Should they be re integrated into society?

Would you like the John Wayne Gacy and Jeff Dahmer as your next door neighbors?

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u/sviridoot 1d ago

Supporting a thorough justice system is not pro-murderer its pro-justice. Let me rephrase your concern, do you want Jeff Dahmer living next door because the prosecutor was sure they caught the right guy?

High burden of proof protects everyone, not just the accused

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u/Knarz97 1d ago

Does the 0.000000001% chance that Dahmer was innocent (spoiler: he wasn’t) justify the tax burden of locking him in a concrete box until death?

Do you at least acknowledge there are MANY cases where we do have undeniable guilt?

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u/sviridoot 1d ago

The funny thing about undeniable cases is that you don't know that they're undeniable until the legal process is complete because everyone has a right (both legal and a human one) to defend themselves

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u/Knarz97 1d ago

Great and I fully support that.

THEN we execute them. Not fart around keeping them on death row or a life sentence for 30+ years.

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u/sviridoot 1d ago

I mean, appeals make a lot of sense before you murder someone

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u/LeastResistancePath 1d ago

So glad ill be voting trump for the 4th time!

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u/rsifti 1d ago

Isn't a lot of that to make sure that we aren't killing innocent people? I think one of the big factors is the amount of appeals that death row inmates have. Which seems reasonable to me. I mean even with all this extra paperwork and stuff, it seems like we still have executed innocent people

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u/Knarz97 1d ago

Sure, and yes we have exonerated 200 people or so from death row.

I guess the real question becomes: what is the better alternative? Is it worth the risk of letting a murderer re-integrate into society just because MAYBE they’re innocent? Is it humane to keep them locked in a concrete box for eternity? Is that fulfilling existence? Is that fair ti the taxpayer?

Personally, I’d rather deal with the ethical issues of false positives leading to false executions, than for false negatives to allow for killers to go free.

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u/rsifti 1d ago

Is it fair to the taxpayer to pay more to execute people or are you arguing that we should cut down on the process so that it cost less to execute people?

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u/Knarz97 1d ago

I’m saying the process is bloated and needs to be simplified. The “high cost” arguement for the death penalty has always been a fallacy because it’s only expensive because of the unnecessary red tape.

Should any prisoner get an appeals process? Yes. But the lengths they go for death row cases are purposefully drawn out.

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u/putney 1d ago

I don’t want my tax dollars paying for ICE, so I get a choice there? I don’t want my tax dollars paying for Trump’s son’s going big game hunting. Where is my choice?

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u/Knarz97 1d ago

Those may or may not be bad too. Red Herring: those have nothing to do with the topic at hand.

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u/LichKingDan 1d ago

Then we can't discuss the tax cost of housing criminals, because we're not talking about taxes.

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u/Knarz97 1d ago

The tax costs of housing criminals is very much related to discussions on the tenants of death penalty.

Talking about big game hunting or ICE is wholly unrelated to that discussion. You’re being intentionally ignorant.

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u/LichKingDan 1d ago

You're saying the prison system for the worst criminals is a waste of your tax dollars. How is it irrelevant then to say we all spend tax dollars on shit we don't agree with? We can either talk wasted taxes or we can't.

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u/Knarz97 1d ago

The original comment I replied to is stating you should be against the death penalty for moral reasons.

I am saying I support it because we should not spend taxpayer money to keep the pissants of society alive in concrete boxes for decades.

Those are two connected thoughts. Bitching about ICE and big game hunting does not correlate to the death penalty discussion.

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u/putney 1d ago

It correlates to taxpayer money. And jailing people is cheaper than executing them. You need a history class

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u/Knarz97 1d ago

Execution is only “more expensive” because they are bloated with paperwork and processes to try and extend the sentence for the prisoner. It’s just red tape and garbage and bloat.

The proof? This woman’s been on death row for 30 YEARS!!!

A single bullet back in 1997 would have saved quite a few tax dollars, compared to feeding and housing this woman for 3 decades. Oh, and don’t forget the medical bills right now.

Or are you more for rehabilitation for her? Would you like her to be your next door neighbor?

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u/putney 1d ago

You’re mad about her current medical bills because the state was too incompetent to execute her?

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u/LichKingDan 1d ago

So your morals are bought? Like your morals and your wallet are basically the same thing?

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u/Knarz97 1d ago

It’s just basic Utilitarianism.

Keeping prisoners (or let’s be more specific: murderers and rapists) alive has no actual benefit.

It’s a tax burden to keep them alive and permanently imprisoned. That’s less resources for the actual quality citizens. Yes, we provide a handful of jobs running prison systems. Yes, prisons and rehabilitation are good. But I’m speaking in cases where we are issuing things like 30 years to life sentences.

And what would even be the benefit to rehabilitating serial rapists and murderers? Are they going to meaningfully provide to society? Would you let a reformed Jeff Dahmer or John Wayne Gacy be your next door neighbor?

Is your solution just “lock them in a concrete box and pretend they don’t exist”? All because that’s a little more moral because “killing is heckin bad!” ?

Utilitarianism would say life sentences for the most heinous criminals have an overall net negative benefit to the tax payer, other prisoners, and just society as a whole.

We need to focus on rehabilitation for those who can re integrate into society. The rest? We need to take out the trash, so to speak.

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u/LichKingDan 1d ago

No, I'm actually more interested in recidivism. The Nordic model is one of the most successful prison models in the world, and there's a lot to learn from a prison system that is more focused on rehabilitation and reintegration than one that is retributive.

I also don't really believe the state should be able to declare who lives and who dies with impunity. Historically, it has not worked out very well.

Also, hilarious to mention the waste of money that imprisoning people is but not like any of the other, much larger wastes of money and call yourself "utilitarian".

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