Americans are more likely to favor life imprisonment than another execution attempt for a prisoner who survives one, a Reuters/Ipsos poll found, as courts consider whether states may try again.
The survey showed 39% preferred a life sentence after a failed execution, while about one-third favored another attempt. A further 26% were unsure which approach was better.
Reuters/Ipsos surveyed 1,679 U.S. adults online nationwide over four days ending Oct. 19. The poll had a margin of error of two percentage points.
Asked about the death penalty for the gravest crimes, 55% backed it, down from 63% in a 2017 Reuters/Ipsos poll. In the latest survey, 31% opposed the death penalty, while 13% did not know or did not answer. The poll also found 71% considered it inappropriate to show executions on television or the internet.
The survey followed Tennessee’s attempts to execute Christa Pike, 50, by lethal injection in Nashville in September. Pike was taken to a hospital unconscious and regained consciousness five days later, Reuters reported.
Two syringes containing the barbiturate pentobarbital failed to kill Pike. She was critically ill and had severe arm injuries after the attempts, which Reuters said marked Tennessee’s second failed lethal injection of 2026.
States that retain capital punishment have struggled to obtain execution drugs in recent years, Reuters reported. Some have considered other methods, including firing squads. Twenty-three U.S. states and most countries have abolished the death penalty.
In Alabama, prison officials failed to set up intravenous lines during a 2022 attempt to execute Kenneth Smith. The state executed him using nitrogen gas in 2024.
Courts are considering whether states can make another attempt after an execution fails. The U.S. Supreme Court recently allowed a state to move toward scheduling a second execution date, Reuters reported.
