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Blackburn calls on Tennessee to ‘bring back’ electric chair after botched Christa Pike execution

Blackburn said Tennessee should revive the electric chair after two botched lethal injections in four months, while opponent Jerri Green called the death penalty inhumane.

  • On Wednesday night, Tennessee prison officials halted the execution of Christa Pike at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution after two doses of pentobarbital failed to kill her; Pike remains in critical condition at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
  • Governor Bill Lee ordered a third-party investigation into the failure and paused all remaining executions for the year, stating, "We should find out what happened and make those changes necessary."
  • U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn called on state officials to resume using the electric chair, writing, "Bring back the electric chair and deliver justice for these victims swiftly."
  • Democratic candidate Jerri Green condemned the state's reliance on capital punishment, describing the death penalty as "inhumane, expensive, and biased" while advocating for life sentences.
  • Emory University School of Medicine professor Dr. Joel Zivot warned Pike "likely never achieved a sufficient blood level" of pentobarbital, risking brain injury; Tennessee law allows electrocution for offenders sentenced before 1999.
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Marsha Blackburn, a Republican legislator, asked to reinstate the electric chair to apply the death penalty to violent criminals in Tennessee

·Los Angeles, United States
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TMZ broke the news in Burbank, United States on Thursday, October 1, 2026.
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