Entries tagged with “Christa Pike

Conditions on Death Row

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Jul 22, 2025

Texas Pilot Program Allows for Less Restrictive Conditions for Some on Death Row for First Time in Decades

Recent report­ing from the *Houston Chronicle* describes a pilot pro­gram begun in February of last year which has allowed a select group of pris­on­ers on Texas’ death row the oppor­tu­ni­ty to expe­ri­ence loos­ened con­fine­ment con­di­tions. About a dozen indi­vid­u­als on Texas’ death row are being allowed to min­gle in a com­mon room, share meals, and spend time out­side of their cells with­out hand­cuffs or shack­les. As the *Chronicle* reports,​“instead of shout­ing to each…

Conditions on Death Row

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Women

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Sep 30, 2024

Rulings for Two Death-Sentenced Prisoners Recognize Devastating Harm Caused by Solitary Confinement

Scientists and oth­er experts are unan­i­mous in their con­clu­sion that indef­i­nite or pro­longed soli­tary con­fine­ment caus­es seri­ous harm, and the United Nations says it amounts to tor­ture — yet most death-sen­­tenced peo­ple in America are con­fined to these extreme con­di­tions of iso­la­tion and depri­va­tion for years. As of 2020, a dozen states rou­tine­ly kept death-sen­­tenced pris­on­ers in sin­gle cells for at least twen­­ty-two hours a day with lit­­tle-to-no human contact.

Issues

Conditions on Death Row

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Women

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Sep 05, 2023

Sole Woman on Tennessee Death Row, Age 18 at Time of Crime, Raises New Appeal Based on Youthfulness

Attorneys for Christa Pike, the only woman on Tennessee’s death row, filed a motion on August 30 to re-open her appeals based on a recent deci­sion from the Tennessee Supreme Court. In 2022, the Court ruled in State v. Booker that manda­to­ry life sen­tences in homi­cide cas­es are uncon­sti­tu­tion­al when imposed on juve­niles, draw­ing on U.S. Supreme Court prece­dent that held that juve­niles are less mature, more vul­ner­a­ble to peer pres­sure, and gen­er­al­ly less culpable…