Supreme Court has allowed Tennessee to move forward with the execution of Christa Gail Pike, 50, after a last-minute appeals court order briefly stopped it on Wednesday. The U.S. The court’s action came after the 6th U.S.
Circuit Court of Appeals issued a temporary stay so it could review claims about Pike’s childhood sexual abuse and whether that history received enough attention during sentencing. The Supreme Court later lifted that stay at Tennessee’s request. The Supreme Court’s decision cleared the way for Tennessee to carry out the execution, but the court did not announce a new execution time. The 6th Circuit paused it to give judges more time to consider Pike’s arguments. Tennessee then asked the Supreme Court to cancel that order. The Supreme Court granted the request, clearing the way for the state to proceed.
If carried out, the execution would make Pike the first woman put to death by Tennessee in more than 200 years. The Supreme Court had already rejected Pike’s request for a stay and her petition for review on September 29.
The legal situation changed just before the scheduled execution.
