US Supreme Court allows Tennessee to proceed with execution of Christa Pike

The US Supreme Court has vacated a last-minute stay of execution for Christa Pike, clearing the way for Tennessee to carry out its first execution of a woman in 200 years. The 6th US Circuit Court of Appeals had briefly halted the process earlier Wednesday to review whether her childhood abuse history was properly considered at sentencing.

Key details

• •According to The Guardian, the US Supreme Court sided with Tennessee in an order signed by Justice Brett Kavanaugh, allowing the execution to proceed Wednesday night.
• •The 6th US Circuit Court of Appeals initially granted a "short stay" in a 2-1 ruling to assess claims that Pike’s history of severe sexual abuse was not fully weighed at her original sentencing, per Al Jazeera and The Guardian.
• •Justice Sonia Sotomayor, joined by Justices Elena Kagan and Kentanji Brown Jackson, dissented from the Supreme Court order, stating the move allows the state to execute Pike before pending legal challenges are fully considered, The Guardian reports.
• •Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti argued the lower court's delay rewarded "abusive delay tactics" by Pike’s legal team, according to The Guardian and BBC News.
• •Pike, 50, was convicted for the 1995 murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer, a case that drew national attention due to the brutality of the crime and the ages of those involved, as noted by France 24 and The Guardian.

Background

Christa Pike was 18 when she and a 17-year-old boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp, murdered classmate Colleen Slemmer in 1995. The crime, which involved beating and stabbing the victim, drew international scrutiny and fears of "satanic panic" due to a pentagram carved into the victim's chest. While Pike received a death sentence, her co-defendant, Shipp, received a life sentence with the possibility of parole.

Why it matters

If carried out, Pike will be the first woman executed by Tennessee in over two centuries and, according to Al Jazeera, would be the only person in the state's modern death penalty era executed for a crime committed as a teenager. Her case has prompted a broader debate regarding capital punishment for young offenders and the consideration of mental health and childhood trauma in sentencing.