Incarceration. Lethal injection. Firing squad. 

This week’s news heavily revolved around the failed execution of Christa Pike and the livestreaming of an upcoming execution.

While Pike’s unique situation is still unfolding and backlash over the planned livestream is still pouring in, it is important to understand who Christa Pike is, what went wrong, and the return of public executions means for our society.

Christa Pike is a 50-year-old woman convicted of murder for the 1995 torture and killing of a classmate in Knoxville, Tenessee. Pike’s execution date has come and gone, with no death certificate to show for it. 

On the evening of Sept. 30, Pike was administered two lethal doses of pentobarbital, but the injections were not effective. Pike complained of burning pain at the site of her IVs and eventually lost consciousness, but was still breathing over an hour after the drug was administered. Emergency services were contacted and Pike was transported from the scene. She was released from the hospital after 10 days and continues to receive medical care at the rehabilitation center where she has been housed for the last 30 years. Pike’s next court hearing is on Oct. 23, where the state is requesting a deadline for Pike’s lawyers to finalize their lawsuit regarding the execution attempt. 

Christa Pike’s is not the only execution making news. The Pentagon has announced that the execution of Nidal Hasan by a firing squad will be livestreamed for the public. Hasan is a former U.S. Army psychiatrist on death row for committing a fatal mass shooting at Fort Hood in 2009. The announcement has been met with significant backlash. “People need to understand that there’s serious consequences for these types of things,” Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, said. Vice President JD Vance responded to the announcement, saying that he will not be watching. He has even expressed doubt that the Pentagon will go through with the livestream at all. Hasan’s will be the first public execution in the United States since 1937.

The common question is the morality of a public execution in the twenty-first century. When the GOP is trying to ban drag shows because they violate the American way, why is the live murder of a human being rated “E” for everyone? If you just thought to yourself, “No one is forcing you to tune into the livestream,” I implore you to think about the last time you were forced to watch a drag performance. Moreover, think about the death of Charlie Kirk. Footage of his death is still nearly inescapable on social media. Even if you do not watch the livestream, you are almost guaranteed to see footage of the event. 

In a time defined by an epidemic of gun violence, it makes you question ifa live execution by firing squad is what this country needs. Is Hegseth acting in the best interest of the American people? It’s questionable whether the death penalty still has a place in our legal system. There is potential for the prison system in the United States to operate as an institution of rehabilitation because the grim reality we are barreling toward, is too dark and hopeless.