WASHINGTON — About one in three Americans believe the government should make another attempt to execute a convicted criminal if the first effort fails, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted after a botched lethal injection in Tennessee.
The four-day survey, completed Monday, found that 39% of respondents favored allowing the prisoner to serve life in prison instead. Another 26% said they were uncertain about the appropriate response.
The results showed limited public support for a second execution attempt involving inmates who survive the first. The question has become especially pressing in Tennessee, where Christa Pike, 50, lived through two lethal injection attempts in Nashville last month.
Pike, who was convicted of murder, was taken unconscious to a hospital in critical condition after two syringes containing the caustic barbiturate pentobarbital failed to kill her. She suffered severe injuries to her arms, making the incident Tennessee’s second failed lethal injection this year, and did not regain consciousness for five days.
Capital punishment has been abolished in most countries worldwide and in 23 US states. States that continue to impose the death penalty have faced growing difficulty securing the drugs used in lethal injections, prompting some officials to explore alternatives such as firing squads.
A narrow majority of Americans — 55% — still support the death penalty for people convicted of the most serious crimes. That figure is down from 63% in a 2017 Reuters/Ipsos poll.
In the latest survey, 31% said they opposed capital punishment, while 13% either declined to answer or said they did not know.
The debate has gained renewed urgency as courts weigh whether states have the legal authority to schedule a second execution after an initial attempt goes wrong.
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The US Supreme Court recently cleared the way for a state to set a new execution date following an unsuccessful first attempt.
Kenneth Smith, who was convicted in a 1988 murder-for-hire case, survived Alabama’s execution attempt in 2022 after prison officials were unable to establish intravenous access.
Alabama ultimately executed Smith on its second attempt in 2024, using nitrogen gas to suffocate him.
OPPOSITION TO LIVESTREAMING EXECUTIONS
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth recently raised the possibility of livestreaming an American execution for the first time. The planned firing-squad execution involved Nidal Hasan, a former US Army major convicted of killing 13 people at the Fort Hood military base in Texas.
President Donald Trump later scrapped the livestream proposal after widespread backlash, including criticism from Republican lawmakers. Officials nevertheless planned to proceed with the execution on December 3.
The poll found that 46% of Americans — including 29% of Democrats and 71% of Republicans — considered it appropriate to execute Hasan by firing squad.
At the same time, 71% of those surveyed said televising or livestreaming executions for the public was inappropriate. Majorities of both Democrats and Republicans shared that view.