华盛顿：美国最高法院于周三（9月30日）裁定，田纳西州可以执行其200年来首例女性死刑，为克里斯塔·派克（Christa Pike）被注射死刑铺平了道路。派克在30年前18岁时谋杀了一名同学。
WASHINGTON: The United States Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday (Sep 30) that Tennessee could proceed with its first execution of a woman in 200 years, clearing the way for Christa Pike to be put to death by lethal injection for murdering a schoolmate as an 18-year-old three decades ago.
田纳西州惩教局随后向路透社发表声明称，计划“今天继续执行死刑”。
The Tennessee Department of Correction said in a statement to Reuters afterwards that it planned "to move forward with the execution today".
50岁的派克曾提交赦免申请，强调其童年创伤和性虐待经历，但该申请于周一被州长比尔·李（Bill Lee）驳回。她也将成为美国现代死刑时代中，田纳西州唯一一名因青少年时期犯罪而被执行死刑的人。
Pike, 50, whose clemency petition highlighting childhood trauma and sexual abuse was denied by Governor Bill Lee on Monday, would also be the only person in the modern era of US capital punishment to be executed in Tennessee for a crime committed as a teenager.
最高法院由6名保守派大法官组成的多数派以6比3的投票结果作出命令，解除了美国第六巡回上诉法院三名法官小组在派克原定被执行死刑前一小时下达的暂停执行令。
In an order decided by its 6-3 conservative majority, the Supreme Court lifted a stay of execution that was granted by a three-judge panel of the 6th US Circuit Court of Appeals one hour before Pike had been scheduled to be put to death.
该上诉法院小组以2比1的投票结果下令“短暂暂停”，以便有时间权衡派克的主张，即其童年性虐待的证据在量刑期间未得到充分考量。
The appellate panel voted 2-1 to order a "short stay" to allow time to weigh Pike's claim that evidence of her childhood sexual abuse was not adequately considered during her sentencing.
但田纳西州总检察长办公室立即请求美国最高法院撤销该暂停令。最高法院支持田纳西州的裁决，成为在派克的死刑执行令于中部夏令时午夜（新加坡时间下午1点）到期前，关于是否允许执行死刑的最终定论。
But the Tennessee attorney general's office immediately asked the US Supreme Court to vacate the stay. And the high court's decision siding with Tennessee marked the final word on whether the execution was permitted to go forward before her death warrant expires at midnight CDT (1pm, Singapore time).
该州未给出执行死刑的具体新时间表，原定在州首府纳什维尔的里弗本最高安全监狱执行。
The state did not give a precise new time frame for the execution, which was set to take place at the Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville, the state capital.
据死刑信息中心执行董事罗宾·梅尔（Robin Maher）表示，如果该州未能及时执行死刑，则需要向田纳西州最高法院申请新的执行令。
If the state were to run out of time to conduct the execution, it would need to obtain a new warrant from the Tennessee Supreme Court, according to Robin Maher, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center.
残忍的谋杀案：1995年1月，18岁的皮克与她17岁的男友以及第三名同伙将同在诺克斯维尔职业培训中心的同学科琳·斯莱默（19岁）诱骗到一片树林中，对她实施了折磨并杀害。
GRISLY KILLING Pike was 18 in January 1995 when she, a 17-year-old boyfriend and a third companion lured 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer, a classmate at their Knoxville Job Corps vocational centre, into a wooded area where they tortured and killed her.
这起谋杀案的残忍程度令人发指：凶手在受害者的胸膛上刻出了五角星的图案，还割下了她头骨的一部分作为“纪念品”，因此当时媒体对此进行了大量报道。
The grisly nature of the slaying, which involved the perpetrators carving the shape of a pentagram in the victim's chest and taking a chunk of her skull as a souvenir of the carnage, drew intense media coverage at the time.
庭审记录显示，皮克将科琳视为自己男友塔达里尔·希普的爱情竞争对手。
Trial testimony indicated that Pike viewed Slemmer as a rival for the affections of her boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp.
皮克和希普均被判处一级谋杀罪。皮克被判处死刑，而希普则被判处无期徒刑（但有假释的可能）。
Pike and Shipp were both convicted of first-degree murder. Pike was sentenced to death, while Shipp received a life sentence with the possibility of parole.
他们的同案犯莎多拉·彼得森在案发时也年仅18岁，她在作案过程中负责望风；她后来为检方作证，因此获得了缓刑。
Their co-defendant, Shadolla Peterson, who was 18 at the time of the murder and acted as a lookout for the other two, testified for the prosecution and received probation.
根据田纳西州惩教部门的信息，皮克目前是该州死囚名单上唯一的女性囚犯。2001年8月，她还因企图谋杀另一名囚犯而被定罪。
Currently the only woman on Tennessee's death row, Pike was also convicted in August 2001 of attempted first-degree murder in an assault on another inmate, according to the Tennessee Department of Correction.
“那个犯下谋杀罪的少女已不复存在”：在长达226页的请愿书中，皮克的律师详细记录了她童年时期遭受暴力、忽视和性虐待的经历（包括11岁和17岁时两次被强奸的经历），并提到了她在狱中被诊断出的双相情感障碍和创伤后应激障碍。律师们还指出：皮克的母亲在怀孕期间酗酒，这导致了她大脑发育异常，使得她难以控制自己的冲动。
TEEN WHO COMMITTED MURDER "NO LONGER EXISTS" In the 226-page petition asking the governor to commute her death penalty to a life sentence without the possibility of parole, Pike's lawyers documented her history as the childhood victim of violence, neglect and sexual abuse, including two rapes at ages 11 and 17. They also cited the diagnoses she received in prison for bipolar disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder. Moreover, they pointed to evidence that Pike's mother drank heavily during pregnancy, contributing to faulty brain development that made it difficult for their client to control her impulses as a young person.
在回应州长拒绝赦免她的决定时，律师们写道：“这个患有严重精神疾病、遭受过致命创伤的18岁少女，早已不复存在了。”
"The 18-year-old girl suffering from severe mental illness and near-debilitating trauma no longer exists," her lawyers wrote in response to Lee's denial of clemency.
克里斯塔是一位50岁的女性，她对自己的行为深感懊悔；她接受了针对自己精神疾病的适当治疗，并且负责照顾、引导其他被关押的女性囚犯。斯莱默的母亲梅·马丁内斯公开表示支持对克里斯塔的执行死刑。
"Christa is a 50-year-old remorseful woman who understands her actions, receives proper treatment for her mental illness, and provides for and guides fellow incarcerated women." Slemmer's mother, May Martinez, has spoken out in support of the execution.
根据死刑信息中心（Death Penalty Information Center）的数据，自1976年美国最高法院重新允许执行死刑以来，在被处决的1,683人中，只有18人是女性。在田纳西州，此前共有17人被执行死刑。
Executions of female prison inmates are exceedingly rare in the US, with women accounting for just 18 of the 1,683 people put to death since the Supreme Court allowed capital punishment to resume in 1976, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. Before Wednesday, Tennessee had executed 17 people.