Tennessee Poison

The state has not earned its license to kill. Turn any article into a podcast. Upgrade now to start listening. Members can share articles with friends & family to bypass the paywall. Assessing the conditions in Reading Gaol, Oscar Wilde remarked: “If this is the way Queen Victoria treats her convicts, she doesn’t deserve to have any.” I wonder whether We the People of the United States deserve to have any convicts at all, or condemned men—or condemned women. The story of Christa Pike, whom Tennessee officials have—so far—twice tried to poison to death, would be the blackest of black comedy if there were any comedy in it. Kevin D. Williamson is national correspondent at The Dispatch and is based in Virginia. Prior to joining the company in 2022, he spent 15 years as a writer and editor at National Review, worked as the theater critic at the New Criterion, and had a long career in local newspapers. He is also a writer in residence at the Competitive Enterprise Institute. When Kevin is not reporting on the world outside Washington for his Wanderland newsletter, you can find him at the rifle range or reading a book about literally almost anything other than politics. More from Kevin D. Williamson