American death penalty abolitionists are raising concerns about two executions with troubling humanitarian and moral implications.
One involves double-murderer Jeffrey Lee, an Alabama Death Row inmate scheduled to die by lethal injection Sept. 17. His jury’s 7-5 vote for life in prison without parole was disregarded by a judge who sentenced him to death under the state’s now-abolished judicial override policy.
Christa Pike
The other is Christa Pike, 50, who is scheduled to be executed in Tennessee Sept. 30. Her case has drawn heightened scrutiny because she committed homicide as a teen and because of the horrifying upbringing she endured as a child.
Amnesty International issued an “urgent action” alert asking its supporters to send letters or emails to Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee and to post messages on social media pleading for Pike’s life.
“She was convicted in 1996 of a 1995 murder committed when she was 18, barely out of a childhood in which she endured rape, sexual and physical violence, abuse and neglect,” the global rights group said. “The state failed to protect her as a child despite having knowledge of what she was facing. Her court-appointed lawyers then failed her at her trial, presenting little of the mitigating evidence of this abuse or its psychological consequences.”
Tennesseans for Alternatives to the Death Penalty also urged action on Pike’s behalf and provided additional details about her abusive childhood, emotional struggles and the fact she is the only female Death Row inmate in the state.
“At the time of the crime, Christa suffered from untreated mental illness, undiagnosed bipolar disorder and PTSD from a lifetime of horrific and repeated childhood rapes, physical and sexual abuse, and neglect that began when she was in diapers,” the group said.
Pike’s case has played a significant part in an ongoing surge in opposition to Tennessee’s lethal injection methods. A botched execution attempt in May prompted medical professionals, faith leaders and legislators to plead with Lee for a halt in executions so protocols can be scrutinized.
In addition, the Tennessee Supreme Court appointed a special master to determine the constitutionality of moving Pike, given her history of abuse, to an all-male facility to be executed by an all-male corrections staff. The special master announced last month the arrangement would not constitute cruel and unusual punishment and the execution could proceed.
If executed, Pike would be the first woman put to death in Tennessee in two centuries.
Jeffrey Lee
Lee dodged an execution date in June when federal courts ruled Alabama could not use nitrogen hypoxia in his execution.
Lee was convicted for a 1998 double homicide and attempted homicide and sentenced to death under a law that was repealed almost a decade ago. His legal team, anti-death penalty advocates, former government officials and former state chief justices have urged Gov. Kay Ivey to spare Lee’s life.
It’s hard to know how the governor may respond, said the Death Penalty Information Center. Ivey, who banned judicial override upon entering office in 2017, “has approved more executions than any Alabama governor in the modern era but has also commuted two death sentences during her tenure, citing doubts about guilt and fairness of the underlying conviction.”
Lee’s attorneys also have argued he should be spared because he agreed to drop a lawsuit in 2018 challenging the state’s lethal injection protocol in return for a promise it would never be used against him.
“Alabama isn’t looking for a constitutional way to execute Jeffery Lee. It’s looking for a way around the Constitution,” Lee’s legal team said. “After losing twice in federal court, Alabama now revives the very lethal injection method it promised to abandon. Alabama isn’t complying with the Constitution. It’s trying to outrun it.”
According to the center, 25 prisoners have been executed across six U.S. states so far in 2026. Florida leads with 14 executions followed by Texas with four, Oklahoma with three and one each in Alabama, Arizona and Tennessee.
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