One in three Americans back second execution attempt after failed one, Reuters/Ipsos poll finds

One-third ​of Americans think the government should try a second time to put a convicted criminal to death if ‌a first execution attempt fails, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted after a botched lethal injection in Tennessee, Report informs via Reuters.

The four-day poll, completed on Monday, showed 39% of respondents thought the government should instead allow convicts to serve life in prison following a failed execution, while 26% were not sure which was a better ​approach.

The nationwide survey found minority public support for trying again to execute inmates who survive execution attempts, a question Tennessee now ​faces after Christa Pike, 50, survived two lethal injection attempts last month in Nashville.

The convicted murderer was ⁠taken to a hospital unconscious following the attempted execution, critically ill and with severe arm injuries after two syringes of ​the caustic barbiturate pentobarbital failed to kill her, marking Tennessee's second botched lethal injection this year. She did not regain consciousness until five ​days later.

Most countries around the world, along with 23 US states, have abolished capital punishment. Those US states that still impose it have struggled in recent years to obtain execution drugs, and some have considered other methods, including firing squads.

A slight majority of Americans - 55% - continue to support capital punishment for people convicted ​of the most serious crimes, down from 63% who said in a 2017 Reuters/Ipsos poll that they supported the policy. Some 31% of ​respondents in the latest poll said they opposed the death penalty, while 13% either did not know or did not answer the question.

The issue ‌has ⁠taken on new significance as courts consider whether states can make a second execution attempt after a failed one.

The US Supreme Court recently allowed a state to proceed with scheduling a second execution date after a failed attempt. Kenneth Smith, convicted of a 1988 murder-for-hire, survived a trip to Alabama's execution chamber in 2022 after prison officials failed to set up intravenous lines. But Alabama succeeded on ​its second try in 2024 ​with a new method of ⁠suffocation using nitrogen gas.