TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Julia Wilburn on Jan 13, 2026

Christa Pike, the only woman on Tennessee’s death row, has sued the state over its new single-drug lethal injection protocol, arguing it violates the U.S. and Tennessee constitutions given her medical conditions and the risk of severe pain and suffering. According to the Nashville Banner, the lawsuit challenges the use of pentobarbital, the lack of transparency and emergency medical contingencies, restrictions on spiritual advisors, and a mandatory 14-day pre-execution isolation period that Pike says amounts to cruel and unusual punishment. Pike, who is scheduled to be executed Sept. 30 and who would be the first woman executed in Tennessee since 1820, also argues the protocol would cause her to effectively "drown in her own blood" due to a blood disorder and small veins, and that it infringes on her Buddhist beliefs. She is seeking a permanent injunction against the protocol and additional safeguards, citing past botched executions and ongoing litigation over Tennessee’s execution practices.