NASHVILLE, Tenn. — On Thursday, Tennessee unveiled a redacted version of its newly updated execution manual, which is significantly shorter than its predecessor. The revised document, now trimmed down, features blacked-out sections related to titles and team names, and it provides ambiguous instructions while omitting several detailed procedures for administering the death penalty.
Initially, the Tennessee Department of Correction had resisted releasing the manual, claiming that the full document needed to remain confidential to safeguard the identities of those involved in executions. However, the agency abruptly changed its stance and shared the updated lethal injection protocol, although they provided no specific reasoning for this shift in policy.
The current 44-page manual is considerably reduced from the nearly 100-page version used in 2018. The previous manual included extensive details, such as an 11-page guideline on the procurement, storage, and administration of lethal injection drugs. The failure to adhere to these procedures resulted in a last-minute suspension of Oscar Smith’s execution in 2022 by Republican Governor Bill Lee, who subsequently declared a moratorium on new executions while the protocols underwent reassessment.
An independent investigation later revealed that the drugs utilized in the executions of seven individuals since 2018 had not been fully tested according to the previous manual’s requirements. In some cases, state officials even explored purchasing drugs from veterinarians or sought to import them from abroad. The state Attorney General’s Office acknowledged in court that two officials responsible for overseeing the lethal injection drugs had given incorrect testimony under oath, claiming that drug testing was being conducted as mandated.
The new manual only dedicates a single page to discussing the lethal injection chemicals, lacking explicit instructions for drug testing and eliminating the previous requirement that chemicals originate from a licensed pharmacist. Nevertheless, the updated protocol introduces some new provisions, including allowing the correction department’s commissioner to make deviations from the protocol when deemed necessary.
Under the 2018 lethal injection guidelines, a sequence of three drugs was administered. The newly introduced protocol simplifies this process to a single dosage of pentobarbital. Another key alteration is that the execution will now be managed by outside contractors rather than department staff, which includes an IV team of at least two members and a physician not affiliated with the Tennessee Department of Correction.
Governor Lee indicated in 2022 that his administration was committed to maintaining transparency regarding the death penalty in Tennessee, asserting the importance of ensuring that protocols were correctly applied.
Kelley Henry, the head of the federal public defender’s habeas unit, which advocates for several death row inmates in Tennessee, criticized the new manual in correspondence, stating that it does not adequately tackle the concerns highlighted by the independent investigation. Henry expressed that essential questions remain unanswered, such as the origins of the drugs, their potential compounding status, and their procurement, storage, and testing methods. She noted that this lack of transparency contradicts assurances made by the Governor two years prior.
While the rate of executions has dramatically decreased across the United States in recent years, the states that continue to enforce the death penalty have generally increased the confidentiality surrounding execution protocols, especially concerning the acquisition of lethal injection drugs. Many states defend this secrecy as necessary to protect individuals involved in executions. However, a 2018 report from the Washington, D.C.-based Death Penalty Information Center indicated that such claims often lead to withheld information about the qualifications of execution teams. Additionally, several courts have dismissed state assertions that increased transparency would endanger prison personnel due to a lack of supporting evidence.
