WASHINGTON — One-third of Americans think the government should try a second time to put a convicted criminal to dєatᩚh if a first exє𝔠uti☉n attempt fails, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted after a botched lєthaℓ inje𝔠ti☉n in Tennessee.

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 exє𝔠uti☉n, 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 exє𝔠uti☉n attempts, a question Tennessee now faces after Christa Pike, 50, survived two lєthaℓ inje𝔠ti☉n attempts last month in Nashville.

Christa Gail Pike, on dєatᩚh row for a slaying, appears in court to fight a conviction in a 2001 attack on an inmate in Nashville, Tennessee, on April 12, 2012. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Emergency vehicles arrive at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution after the exє𝔠uti☉n of Christa Pike was halted on Oct. 1, 2026, in Nashville, Tenn. AP Photo/George Walker IV

The convicted murderer was taken to a hospital unconscious following the attempted exє𝔠uti☉n, critically ill and with severe arm injuries after two syringes of the caustic barbiturate pentobarbital failed to 𝘬iᩚll her, marking Tennessee’s second botched lєthaℓ inje𝔠ti☉n 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 exє𝔠uti☉n 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 dєatᩚh penalty, while 13% either did not know or did not answer the question.

Christa Pike is escorted from Knox County Criminal Court in Knoxville, Tennessee, on March 30, 1996, after being sentenced to dєatᩚh for the murder of Colleen A. Slemmer. via REUTERS

University of Tennessee forensic anthropologist Dr. Murray Marks testifies about the wounds to Colleen A. Slemmer’s skull during Christa Gail Pike’s murder trial in Knox County Criminal Court in March 1996. USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

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

The US Supreme Court recently allowed a state to proceed with scheduling a second exє𝔠uti☉n date after a failed attempt.

Kenneth Smith, convicted of a 1988 murder-for-hire, survived a trip to Alabama’s exє𝔠uti☉n chamber in 2022 after prison officials failed to set up intravenous lines.

A woman holds up a sign during a vigil for Christa Pike in Krutch Park in Knoxville, Tenn., on Oct. 2, 2026. USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

But Alabama succeeded on its second try in 2024 with a new method of suffocation using nitrogen gas.

Opposition to livestreaming executions

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth recently floated the prospect of the first-ever livestream of a US exє𝔠uti☉n, the planned dєatᩚh by firing squad of Nidal Hasan, the former US Army major who killed 13 people at Texas’ Fort Hood military base.

Christa Pike’s attorney, Luke Ihnen, right, and Randy Spivey, Tennessee Office of the Post-Conviction, hold a press conference outside the Metro Courthouse in Nashville, Tenn., on Oct. 7, 2026. USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Following widespread criticism – including from Republican lawmakers – President Donald Trump canceled the livestream plans, though officials still intend to carry out the exє𝔠uti☉n on December 3.

Some 46% of Americans, including 29% of Democrats and 71% of Republicans, said it was appropriate to execute Hasan by firing squad.

But 71% of people surveyed, including majorities of Democrats and Republicans, said showing executions to the public on television or the internet was inappropriate.