Tennessee put a hold on executions in 2022 due to concerns about its lethal injection protocol. This morning, the state resumed executions, using lethal injection to put to death Oscar Franklin Smith.
Timeline: Tennessee is planning its first lethal injection in years. How did the state get here?
On Thursday, Tennessee plans to carry out its first execution since 2019 by means of lethal injection. It’s the fourth scheduled execution date since 2020 for Oscar Smith, who was convicted of killing his estranged wife Judith Smith and her two sons Jason Burnett and Chad Burnett in 1989.
Paul House, who spent two decades on Tennessee’s death row before he was freed, has died
Attorney Emily Elison says he died on March 22 of complications from pneumonia after living for years with multiple sclerosis. He was 63.
Secrecy laws, low regulation and ‘gray markets’ mean Tennesseans know very little about the state’s lethal injection drugs
Tennessee is set to resume executions in May, but the state’s lethal injection drug supply is shrouded in mystery.
A Trump executive order aims to make lethal injection drugs more accessible to states like Tennessee
On his first day back in office, President Donald Trump signed a slew of executive orders. One aims to help states like Tennessee secure lethal injection drugs. But that will be an uphill battle.
Drug used in federal executions under Trump may cause ‘unnecessary pain and suffering,’ Garland says
The Justice Department is rescinding its protocol for federal executions that allowed for single-drug lethal injections with pentobarbital.
Tennessee reverses course, releases redacted execution manual with vague details
Tennessee’s Department of Correction has released a redacted version of its newly completed execution manual after initially refusing to do so. The 44-page document blacks out sporadic titles and team names, and omits previously detailed steps on carrying out the death penalty in the Volunteer State.
Tennessee is refusing to release its new execution manual. Here is why it matters
Tennessee prison officials say they won’t publicly release the the state’s latest manual for executing death row inmates. In an email Monday, Tennessee correction official Kayla Hackney denied a public records request from The Associated Press.
Tennessee is set to resume executions, now using a single drug for lethal injection
Tennessee will soon resume executions, after an Associated Press investigation led the state to pause all lethal injections and redesign its protocol. The Tennessee Department of Corrections will use a single-drug protocol. It will rely on pentobarbital, a sedative that is notoriously difficult for governments to source.
Tennessee corrections chief says new process for executing inmates will be completed by end of year
The announcement signals a pending end to the yearslong pause that was put in place after a blistering report revealed that the state had conducted several executions without proper testing of the drugs used.
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