As a former Jewish prison chaplain and co-founder of L’chaim! Jews Against the Death Penalty, I have communicated via phone and computer messaging for years with many individuals on American death rows before their ultimate execution.
One of our long-time correspondents, Christa Pike, catapulted into international news late last month when she survived two torturous doses of lethal drugs in a botched execution attempt by the state of Tennessee.
Christa and I have been communicating regularly via a messaging system on her prison table for well over a year.
Her correspondence with me immediately before and after her unfathomable experience is further proof-positive that, unlike what many people think, she, as well as other guilty individuals on death rows across the world, are not monsters.
They are human beings who have committed horrific crimes, but who – like all of us – have the capacity for change.
Before I became a prison chaplain and witnessed this kind of change myself, I used to support the death penalty. Communicating with and getting to know people like Christa has helped me to rethink “an eye for an eye” and to see the light of abolition.
Defenders of the physical and psychological torture that Christa endured often state that they feel her suffering was appropriate given the fact that she had mercilessly tortured her victim before brutally killing her.
It is absolutely true that Christa, herself a victim of abuse, transferred that abuse brutally onto 18-year-old Colleen Anne Slemmer, whom she heinously murdered more than 30 years ago, when Christa was eighteen.
Still, like any of us, Christa was also capable of change, and over the decades she demonstrated that by expressing her undying remorse for her crime. Detractors claim she has not expressed remorse, but Christa’s clemency packet blatantly disproves this assertion.
In that press release, Christa responded to the prompt of, “Think back to the worst mistake you made as a reckless teenager,” by stating: “Mine happened to be huge, unforgettable, and ruined countless lives. I was a mentally ill 18-year-old kid.
“I took the life of someone’s child, sister, friend. It sickens me now to think I could commit such a crime.”
Punishing her for what she did at that lowest point by torturing and killing her only further perpetuates the cycle of violence and killing to which she herself succumbed when she took the precious, irreplaceable life of Colleen.
Those who advocate for Christa to suffer as Colleen did dishonor her memory. Instead, they should be calling upon Tennessee to try not to kill Christa again and demand that no more blood be shed in Colleen Slemmer’s name.
We must hear Christa’s voice as the woman she became decades after committing her offense.
Christa's voice
About a year ago, I wrote a message to Christa explaining how the thousands of members of our group realize that in the wake of the Holocaust, state-sponsored murder of defenseless prisoners in any form is a non-starter.
This is particularly the case, I added, when it comes to firing squads, gassing to death, and lethal injection, all of which are direct Nazi legacies.
I shared with Christa how the sacred memory of my beloved grandmother, a Holocaust survivor, inspires me in my advocacy, as does the biblical verse: “Love is as strong as death” (Song of Songs, 8:6).
Here was her response:
“You are an exemplary human being for the work you do and how you show loving kindness to others. I’ve been a practicing Buddhist for some years now. I’m so sorry to hear of your grandmother’s passing and of the suffering she endured during her life.
“You are leaving a legacy of love in her wake. I can’t imagine how proud she must’ve been of you for the path you’ve chosen. Thank you for your kind words of support and the knowledge you are passing along to me.
“I didn’t know that history of lethal injection. Love IS as strong as death. I agree. I am full of love and still full of life.”
Months later, in her final message to me before her impossible execution ordeal, Christa wrote the following in response to the prayers that L’chaim members and I sent to her:
“Thank you. Please pray Wednesday starting at 10:00 my time (Central) and pray me through it. I appreciate you so much. Pass my love around.”
It was not until after Christa’s recovery in the death row “Rehabilitation Center” that Christa wrote back briefly to my many other messages, clearly struggling to convey any message out that she could muster:
“Thank you! I’m in the infirmary. Just in a lot of P ain [sic] and numbness and confusion. I ... appreciate you…”
I continued to pass on various specific messages of support for her from members of L’chaim across the USA, Israel, and the world.
“Those msgs are beautiful!!!” was the brief response she managed, and “Thank you for praying for me. I do have a message I’ll send it separately.”
Finally, as her healing continued, Christa was able to draft the following message that she asked me to share: “My heart compels me to shower appreciation on everyone who is supporting me. I’m sitting in a deep space of gratitude.
“I feel I have a profound opportunity to do so many great things while the light is on me. That is my goal. I see love in you, and that is divine. I’m still in a lot of pain, but as I heal, you’ll hear more from me. I love you all!”
I leave it up to readers to discern for themselves if these are the messages of a monster who deserves torture and killing.
For those still on the fence regarding her humanity, perhaps it might help to consider the message she asked our group to deliver to the men on Tennessee’s death row who have been writing to us in recent days inquiring about her.
Here is what Christa wrote to them through us: “I stand in solidarity with every single one of you. Even the ones I’ve never heard of or seen … I ask about all of you all the time. I love you guys. I’m meditating, but also praying through Jesus.
“I need all the love and support I can get. They really messed me up bad, but I just tried to help them and loved them through it. And yes, I DO know that sounds insane but that’s just who I am.
“Tell everyone over there I love them and I hope what I’m going through will elicit change for all of y’all.”
Putting an end to the cycle
Last but not least, Christa reserved particular concern for Anthony “Tony” Carruthers, the man on Tennessee death row who had survived a torturous failed execution attempt (at the hand of the same physician) earlier this year.
Aware that Tony and I have also been in touch for well over a year, Christa wrote to me about him: “I’ve worried day in and day out about him. I hope he’s getting the help he needs to deal with this. It’s messed me up on a very fundamental level in more ways than one. I can’t imagine he’s able to trust many people at this time.”
At a time when Christa had every reason to focus on her own plight, her concern for others in line for the same fate speaks volumes about her character and the person she has become.
For me, and the members of L’chaim, Christa’s words throughout our correspondence underscore a singular point that all of civilized humanity realizes: a society that condemns a human being to death condemns itself infinitely more.
Far from any deterrence delusion, the death penalty is nothing more than veiled vengeance par excellence. It is an abject abomination that only perpetuates the cycle of violence and killing that has plagued humanity since time immemorial.
Well over 70% of world nations have abolished the death penalty in law or practice. It is high time the US, Israel, Iran, and all countries that employ this barbaric medieval charade of “justice” heed this fact.
They should instead remember the words of death penalty abolitionist Elie Wiesel, who famously said of capital punishment: “Death should never be the answer in a civilized society.”
It most certainly is not the answer now, nor was it ever, for Christa Pike, who is a human being, not a monster.
May the beloved memory of Colleen Anne Slemmer be a loving guide for us all, and may no more blood be spilled in her name.
May the cycle of killings end.
The writer is a cantor (MSM, BCC), a member of Death Penalty Action’s advisory committee, and co-founder of L’chaim! Jews Against the Death Penalty.