田纳西州死刑执行者克里斯塔·派克因注射失败未被处死1，这一事件再次暴露了美国致命注射执行方式的缺陷。与此同时，国防部长皮特·赫格塞斯计划直播陆军少校尼达尔·哈桑的枪决——哈桑因13起谋杀罪被判死刑1——这一提议进一步激化了关于死刑执行方式和透明度的争议。
美国保留死刑的做法使其与伊朗、朝鲜等国为伍，与大多数民主国家形成鲜明对比1。目前美国27个州保留死刑1，而英国在1965年、加拿大在1976年、澳大利亚昆士兰州在1922年都已废除死刑1。致命注射作为主要执行方式，于1982年引入，曾被宣传为"干净、临床、无痛"的方法，但实际上比其他方法更容易出现执行失败1。南卡罗来纳州死囚布拉德·西格蒙在2025年3月选择枪决，理由是该州前三名被注射执行的死囚均遭受长期痛苦1，反映出对现有执行方式的深层不信任。
美国最高法院对死刑制度的态度经历了重大转变。1972年，最高法院裁定死刑违宪，导致约600名死囚获救，执行暂停五年1。1976年，最高法院再次裁定修订后的死刑法案合宪1，执行于1977年恢复，其中首例在犹他州采用了枪决1。当前，美国公众对死刑的支持率为52%1，而田纳西州共和党人倾向于恢复电椅作为执行方法1。
Recent cases involving execution failures and proposals for public firing squads have brought renewed scrutiny to America's capital punishment practices. In Tennessee, death row inmate Christa Pike survived a lethal injection execution after the procedure failed 1. Separately, Army Major Nidal Hasan, convicted of 13 murders, faces a proposed livestreamed execution by firing squad, with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth planning to broadcast the event 1.
These developments underscore deeper fractures within the US death penalty landscape. Twenty-seven states currently retain capital punishment, placing the United States alongside nations including Iran and North Korea, while most other democracies have abolished it—the United Kingdom abolished capital punishment in 1965, Canada in 1976, and Queensland, Australia in 1922 1. The Supreme Court ruled in 1972 that capital punishment violated the Constitution, leading to the commutation of approximately 600 death sentences and a five-year moratorium on executions 1. The Court reversed this decision in 1976, declaring revised capital statutes constitutional, and executions resumed in 1977 with the first firing squad execution carried out in Utah 1.
Lethal injection, introduced in 1982, was promoted as a "clean, clinical, and painless" method 1, yet research indicates it has proven more prone to execution failures than other methods 1. Some death row inmates are now rejecting lethal injection in favor of alternatives. Brad Sigmon, a South Carolina death row inmate, chose execution by firing squad in March 2025 after the state's first three inmates executed by injection endured prolonged suffering 1. In Tennessee, Republican officials have proposed reverting to the electric chair as an execution method 1. Public support for capital punishment stands at 52 percent, representing a recovery from a low of 42 percent recorded during the 1960s 1.
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