Tennessee has new enforcement, 2.5 years after last scheduled enforcement came to an abrupt halt

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — More than two years after Tennessee abruptly halted the execution of inmate Oscar Smith — acknowledging that corrections officials were not following their own execution protocols — the state has announced a new approach that could Allowing it to resume suspended executions from May 2022.

The Tennessee Department of Corrections announced in a brief statement Friday that it had “completed revisions to its lethal injection protocol that will use a single drug, pentobarbital.” The department did not immediately release the new protocol or provide information to the public. Any further details.

Kelly Henry, chief of the federal public defender’s habeas unit that represents many of Tennessee’s death row inmates, said the announcement was “notable for its lack of detail.”

“The secrecy of Tennessee’s execution protocols allowed TDOC to carry out executions in violation of their own protocols while misrepresenting their actions to the courts and the public,” Henry said in a brief to The Associated Press.

Smith received an 11th-hour reprieve after Henry requested the results of purity and potency tests required of the lethal injection drugs he used. Documents later obtained through a public records request showed that at least two people knew the lethal injection drug the state planned to use did not undergo some required testing. A subsequent independent review found that the state had not followed its own lethal injection procedures since it was revised in 2018.

Commissioner Frank Strada took over the Department of Corrections in January 2023, the same month the department’s chief prosecutor and inspector general were fired.

“I believe the lethal injection procedure can be conducted in accordance with department policy and state law,” Strada said in announcing the new agreement on Friday.

Henry noted that death row inmates are suing in federal court challenging Tennessee’s previous lethal injection protocol, which used three different drugs in succession. They put the case on hold pending a review and revised process by the state. Their agreement with the state gives them 90 days to review the new deal and decide whether to amend their complaint to challenge it.

Henry said no new execution date should be set while the case is pending in court. She also noted that the U.S. Department of Justice is currently reviewing the use of pentobarbital in executions.

“We know from scientific data that the single drug pentobarbital can cause pulmonary edema, which is similar to waterboarding,” she said.