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Christa Pike still on death row but out of 'solitary confinement' after court challenges
Tennessee still plans to execute Christa Pike, the only woman on its death row, but it will afford her more time with other incarcerated women after 27 years of what her attorneys describe as de facto solitary confinement.
Court Settlement Ends Isolation for the Only Woman on Tennessee’s Death Row
“This settlement will be life-changing for Christa Pike,” said Angela Bergman, one of the attorneys who represented Pike in a lawsuit against the state over the conditions of her confinement. “For the last nearly 30 years, Ms. Pike has been subjected to solitary confinement in a cell the size of a parking space, where she has had nearly no meaningful human contact. These conditions have had a devastating impact on her mental and physical health.”
Christa Pike's attorneys request her death sentence be reconsidered due to her youth at the time
“If Christa is executed for a crime she committed as a teenager, it will contradict Tennessee’s deeply held beliefs in the value of human life and redemption, as well as the scientific consensus that youthful brains are not fully formed, especially for young people who experience severe abuse, neglect and trauma.”