On September 30, 2026, the US state of Tennessee attempted to execute Christa Pike, a woman who had been on death row for more than 30 years.
Pike was sentenced to death for the 1995 murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer. After being convicted of the murder, Pike spent decades in prison before her execution was finally scheduled.
But the execution did not go as planned.
Pike was given two doses of a drug called pentobarbital as part of the execution process, but she survived. She was taken to hospital and is still alive as of the time of recording this episode.
The death penalty is one of the oldest forms of punishment in human history. Some people believe it is an appropriate punishment for the most serious crimes. Others believe that governments should never have the power to take someone's life.
So today, we're going to look at what the death penalty is, its long history, where it is still used today, and the arguments for and against it. And at the end, we'll return to the case of Christa Pike and consider what her failed execution tells us about capital punishment.
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TRANSCRIPT - https://thinkinginenglish.blog/2026/11/02/412-should-we-abolish-the-death-penalty-english-vocabulary-lesson/
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