{"id":2674706,"date":"2026-10-02T12:22:01","date_gmt":"2026-10-02T16:22:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/utm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaignchrista-pike-shows-its-time-to-bring-back-firing-squads\/"},"modified":"2026-10-02T12:27:44","modified_gmt":"2026-10-02T16:27:44","slug":"utm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaignchrista-pike-shows-its-time-to-bring-back-firing-squads","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/utm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaignchrista-pike-shows-its-time-to-bring-back-firing-squads\/","title":{"rendered":"Christa Pike Shows It&#8217;s Time To Bring Back Firing Squads"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Futm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaignchrista-pike-shows-its-time-to-bring-back-firing-squads%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2674706&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The article discusses the evolution and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/michael-knowles-takes-stage-at-cpac-says-democrat-led-invasion-of-southern-border-worsened-americas-identity-crisis\/\" title=\"Michael Knowles speaks at CPAC, blames Democrats for exacerbating America&#039;s identity crisis through the southern border invasion\">current debates surrounding<\/a> the use of capital punishment in the United States. It highlights how methods of execution have shifted from hanging to the electric chair, gas chamber, and lethal injection, which is the most common today. Despite claims of being more humane, lethal injection has been prone to errors, as exemplified by the botched execution of Christa Pike in Tennessee, which resulted in her surviving the process and requiring emergency medical treatment. The controversy extends to evaluating option methods like the electric chair and firing squad. The firing squad is presented as the most efficient and reliable method, capable of resulting in death in less than a minute, unlike lethal injection, which can take much longer or fail entirely. The article underscores Pike\u2019s brutal crimes and argues for the importance of swift justice, criticizing the delays and mishandling of executions. It advocates for all states to adopt the firing squad as a humane and effective means of carrying out the death penalty for heinous crimes, emphasizing that true justice is served through prompt and certain punishment.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>As so-called modern Americans, we like to believe that we have risen above some of the more, so we think, violent and \u201cbarbaric\u201d practices of our ancestors. No facet of our justice system better exemplifies this belief than the ever-evolving definition of \u201ccruel and unusual punishment\u201d under the Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cExcessive bail shall not be required, nor <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/its-like-hes-the-fonz-trump-gives-coolest-response-in-presidential-history-as-court-tosses-500-million-verdict\/\" title=\"It&#039;s Like He&#039;s &#039;the Fonz&#039;: Trump Gives Coolest Response in Presidential History as Court Tosses 0 Million Verdict\">excessive fines imposed<\/a>, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.\u201d So it says, right there <a href=\"https:\/\/constitution.congress.gov\/constitution\/amendment-8\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">in the document<\/a>. But at the time it was written, hanging was the most common form of capital punishment in not only the United States but in the Western World. Yet no one is hanged today, <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Billy_Bailey\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">not since 1996<\/a>, and it had been falling out of fashion long before Bill Bailey took his long drop. <\/p>\n<p>Our sensibilities have changed, and we no longer deem it humane to execute criminals in such a fashion. We initially tried to replace it with the electric chair, using, at the time, modern technology to quickly and efficiently deal with the criminal element. Then we supposedly upgraded to even more humane methods, namely the gas chamber and lethal injection. The latter currently stands as <a href=\"https:\/\/deathpenaltyinfo.org\/executions\/methods-of-execution\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">the most common<\/a> form of execution in the United States.<\/p>\n<p>Despite any claims toward being more \u201chumane,\u201d executions by lethal injection can still be horribly botched. Case in point: the failed execution of murderer Christa Pike in Tennessee on Wednesday. <\/p>\n<p>Pike remained among the living after the administration of two doses of lethal drugs as part of her <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/us\/supreme-court-clears-way-teen-killers-execution-after-last-minute-reprieve\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">scheduled execution<\/a> Wednesday evening. After the botched lethal injection, Pike was transported to a local hospital, where she bafflingly <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/washingtonpost\/status\/2105727331243303309?s=46\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">received<\/a> \u201clifesaving medical care,\u201d according to her attorneys.<\/p>\n<p>In response to this embarrassing muck-up, Republican Gov. Bill Lee immediately halted any further executions in 2026 and ordered \u201ca comprehensive, third-party review to determine exactly what occurred,\u201d according to Fox News.<\/p>\n<p>In contrast to Lee\u2019s limp-wristed act to deny justice even further by halting further executions, gubernatorial candidate and current Tennessee Sen. Marsha Blackburn <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/VoteMarsha\/status\/2105651199542177864\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">said<\/a>, \u201cThis situation is tragic. Christa Pike should have been executed long ago. Now, this botched process is extending the pain for the family of Colleen Slemmer. \u2026 The answer is simple: bring back the electric chair and deliver justice for these victims swiftly.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Blackburn is exactly right. People who commit especially heinous crimes should be dealt with via the death penalty and dealt with both efficiently and quickly. Christa Pike should have shuffled off her mortal coil long ago, and justice should have been dispensed with a far more reliable tool.<\/p>\n<p>Many people are squeamish about the electric chair, possibly due to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=2OB7BSXhReA\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">infamously horrifying scene<\/a> from the 1999 film <em>The Green Mile<\/em>. Though no doubt many of our death row inmates deserve such a fate, there can still be mishaps with the Old Sparky, and in some cases it can take <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/news\/us-news\/firing-squad-gas-chamber-how-long-executions-take-n329371\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">more than 15 minutes<\/a> for someone to die. But it sure is hard to botch a firing squad.<\/p>\n<p>The firing squad represents another execution method that we\u2019ve nearly abandoned because of its supposed \u201cbarbarity,\u201d yet it stands as the very definition of swift and efficient. It\u2019s been used in executions for centuries, with the first execution by shooting in English America going all the way back to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ap.org\/news-highlights\/spotlights\/2025\/the-us-is-killing-someone-by-firing-squad-for-the-1st-time-in-15-years-heres-a-look-at-the-history\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Jamestown<\/a> in 1608. And we\u2019ve even evolved beyond the old scene of a five-man squad lining a blindfolded man up against the wall \u2014 we now have <a href=\"https:\/\/www.corrections1.com\/capital-punishment\/idaho-prison-system-developing-remote-firing-squad-method-for-executions\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">automated systems<\/a> that can take humans, and any potential guilt for those who pull the triggers, out of the equation. Death by firing squad comes in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/news\/us-news\/firing-squad-gas-chamber-how-long-executions-take-n329371\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">less than a minute<\/a>, while death from lethal injection can take up to two hours, or not at all in Pike\u2019s case.<\/p>\n<p>Now, some may harbor feelings of sympathy toward Pike because of her status as a woman or because they do not believe her crime merits the death penalty, so let me fill you in on what she did to land on death row.<\/p>\n<p>A jury of Pike\u2019s peers found her guilty of the 1995 murder of Colleen Slemmer, Pike\u2019s 19-year-old Job Corps classmate. Pike had come to believe that Slemmer was trying to steal Pike\u2019s boyfriend, and conspired with two others to kill her. After luring Slemmer into the woods with the promise of marijuana, Pike and her boyfriend proceeded to brutally torture and murder Slemmer. Pike even <a href=\"https:\/\/www.willkern.com\/pike.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">kept a piece<\/a> of Slemmer\u2019s skull as a souvenir. You can read the full <a href=\"https:\/\/www.opn.ca6.uscourts.gov\/opinions.pdf\/19a0205p-06.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">grisly details<\/a> here.<\/p>\n<p>This isn\u2019t one of those true crime podcast stories that exonerates an innocent person or a conspiracy that only TikTok sleuths can uncover. She killed Colleen Slemmer in an exceptionally sadistic and premeditated fashion, and she bragged about it. No matter the <a href=\"https:\/\/dpw.lawschool.cornell.edu\/advocacy\/christa-pike\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">tragic circumstances<\/a> of her early life, Pike must be held accountable for <em>her<\/em> actions, and the magnitude of her crime demands the death penalty. <\/p>\n<p>Not only as justice for the victim and her family, but also for society at large and even Pike herself. She shouldn\u2019t have sat on death row for decades, and her botched execution undermines the pursuit of true justice \u2014 not only in her case but in all cases going forward, as seen in Gov. Lee\u2019s suspension of further executions. Executing the condemned, on the day of their conviction, duly renders to them that which they are owed for their crimes. Denying that or delaying it is itself an injustice. We used to recognize this moral fact, hence the long drop and the firing squad as preferred methods of execution.<\/p>\n<p>By trying to deny this fact and fool ourselves into thinking we\u2019ve become more \u201chumane,\u201d we actually end up making ourselves more barbaric, as pointed out by Southern Baptist Theological Seminary Professor Andrew Walker.<\/p>\n<figure>\n<p><span><\/p>\n<blockquote data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">I am a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/democrats-roll-out-wish-list-for-bidens-final-weeks-washington-examiner\/\" title=\"Democrats roll out wish list for Biden&#039;s final weeks - Washington Examiner\">death penalty advocate<\/a>. In fact, I might even be a maximalist in terms of making it an eligible penalty for more crimes. But the overly clinical, medically sanitized nature of modern capital punishment is a mistake and, in some shape or form, even more deceptively cruel\u2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/yrMmfrktuN\">https:\/\/t.co\/yrMmfrktuN<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Andrew T. Walker (@AndrewTWalker) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/AndrewTWalker\/status\/2105684590035649006?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">October 1, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><\/span> <\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Now Pike is reportedly in critical condition at the hospital after a \u201ccruel and torturous\u201d botched execution, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/live\/2026\/10\/01\/us\/christa-pike-tennessee-execution\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">according<\/a> to her lawyers. Why they are trying to save her life when she was already slated for death is beyond me, probably yet more consideration toward \u201cbeing humane,\u201d but Pike wouldn\u2019t be suffering right now if the state had possessed the spine to put five bullets in her heart the day she was convicted. The so-called \u201chumane\u201d option has rendered more suffering than a bullet would have, and it has stained the justice owed to Pike and her victim.<\/p>\n<p>Currently, only five states \u2014 Mississippi, South Carolina, Oklahoma, Idaho, and Utah \u2014 allow the firing squad, as does the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2026\/04\/24\/nx-s1-5798990\/doj-firing-squads-executions-trump-capital-punishment\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">federal government<\/a>. It should be all 50 states, and they should utilize that method decisively. The death penalty represents true justice if the crime is heinous enough, and thus the firing squad, delivered quickly upon the condemned, represents the best method for dispensing that justice.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>      Hayden Daniel is a staff editor at The Federalist. He previously worked as an editor at The Daily Wire and as deputy editor\/opinion editor at The Daily Caller. He received his B.A. in European History from Washington and Lee University with minors in Philosophy and Classics. Follow him on Twitter at @HaydenWDaniel<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Modern Americans often see themselves as above barbaric punishments, yet debates over what constitutes \u201ccruel and unusual\u201d reveal ongoing controversy<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1548,"featured_media":2674707,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Screenshot-248.png","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[86613,50403,40458,37109,4901],"class_list":["post-2674706","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-capitalpunishment","tag-crime-2","tag-criminaljustice","tag-deathpenalty","tag-justice"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Screenshot-248.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2674706","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1548"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2674706"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2674706\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2674710,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2674706\/revisions\/2674710"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2674707"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2674706"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2674706"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2674706"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}