TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Amelia Ferrell Knisely on Aug 26, 2015

Davidson County Chancellor Claudia Bonnyman ruled Wednesday that the state’s lethal injection protocol is constitutional, The Tennesean reports. Bonnyman said a group of condemned inmates and their attorneys did not prove during trial that the single lethal-injection protocol creates risk of cruel and unusual harm. The decision does not immediately allow executions to resume after a Tennessee Supreme Court ruling earlier this year put them on hold until the final disposition of the case.

The ruling comes the same day as U.S. District Judge Henry T. Wingate issued a temporary restraining order blocking the state of Mississippi from using two drugs – pentobarbital or midazolam – in executions, The Commercial Appeal reports. Prisoners there also claimed they face risks of excruciating pain and torture during an execution.