Tennessee has a problem it has never faced before: a lethal injection that didn't work. Now a prominent legal voice says the state may need a different method entirely. Former Justice Department official and Berkeley law professor John Yoo, a former clerk to Justice Clarence Thomas, said on Fox that Tennessee would have to go back and carry out Christa Pike's sentence again — suggesting the state could consider the firing squad.
"The Constitution and the Eighth Amendment says states can't use cruel and unusual punishment. The Constitution also says that states can use the death penalty," Yoo said, arguing Tennessee was trying to use "the most humane method of capital punishment, which is lethal injection."
One wrinkle: the firing squad is not currently Tennessee's statutory execution method. State law provides for lethal injection, with electrocution as an alternative in certain circumstances. Pike, 50, survived two doses of pentobarbital on September 30. She was sentenced to death for the 1995 torture-murder of her classmate Colleen Slemmer. Pike herself has reportedly asked for an all-female firing squad instead.
What to watch next: the independent review Gov. Bill Lee ordered — and whether Tennessee seeks a new execution date or a new method.