Christa Pike survived lethal injection. How your state carries out executions

Data: Death Penalty Information Center; Note: New Hampshire abolished the death penalty but retains one prisoner on death row; Map: Erin Davis/Axios Christa Pike's survival after two lethal injection doses has put state execution protocols nationwide under new scrutiny. The big picture: How prisoners are executed varies by state, with lethal injection, electrocution, lethal gas and firing squads among the methods authorized. Lethal injections are the most common U.S. execution method, accounting for roughly 89% of the 1,683 executions carried out since 1976, per the Death Penalty Information Center. By the numbers: More than two dozen states have lethal injection as a primary method. Lethal gas is authorized in Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma and Wyoming. Electrocution is allowed in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Tennessee. Firing squad is allowed in Idaho, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Utah. Idaho is the only state where it is the primary method. Context: Some states let prisoners choose among the different execution methods. Zoom out: The Supreme Court requires states to keep the death penalty only for the most heinous murders. Pike, convicted of killing a classmate three decades ago, survived two rounds of lethal injection drugs earlier this week in what would have been the first execution of a woman in Tennessee in 200 years. Pike was still alive as of Friday, remaining on a ventilator and unconscious, AP reports.

Read it at Axios ↗

← Front page