In an 800-page report,the Tennessee governor is recommending changes to how executions are performed in the state.
Gov. Bill Leeannounced a halt to all scheduled executions in 2022 while a former U.S. Attorney looks into what went wrong in the hours before the scheduled execution of Oscar Smith. Lee said the investigation would look into why Tennessee Department of Correction officials didn't perform all the testing on the lethal injection chemicals, as well as the clarity of the 99-page manual that outlines how Tennessee ends the life of death row inmates using lethal injection.
“I commend Interim Commissioner Helton for her steady leadership, which has been particularly important during this time of change and transition at the department, and we are deeply grateful for her continued public service to our state.”
Here's the basis of the report:
- Make staffing changes at the department’s leadership level.
- Hire and onboard a permanent TDOC commissioner in January 2023.
- New department leadership will revise the state’s lethal injection protocol, in consultation with the Governor’s office and the Tennessee Attorney General’s office.
- New department leadership will review all training associated with the revised protocol and make appropriate operational updates.
“Taking a human life is the most serious of the government’s powers," said Kelley Henry, Chief of Capital Habeas Unit for the Nashville's Federal Public Defender’s Office. "Today’s report contains troubling findings about the way in which our state government has carried out executions in the past. It is shocking to learn that the Tennessee Department of Correction never gave a copy of the lethal injection protocol to the pharmacist who made the drugs. We have certainly been led to believe that the pharmacist was not only familiar with the protocol, but actually helped draft the protocol. The State must do everything in its power to avoid the execution botches we have seen in other states and in Tennessee in the recent past. What we learned today is that secrecy in our state’s execution process breeds a lack of accountability, sloppiness, and a high risk of horrifying mistakes. A thorough and thoughtful review and a transparent process will promote public trust and accountability and avoid needless human suffering."
