TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Azya Thornton on Jan 10, 2025

After initially denying public records requests for an execution manual outlining new lethal injection protocols, the Tennessee Department of Correction has released a redacted version of the document. According to the Associated Press, the manual — much shorter than the previous version — includes a single page on lethal injection chemicals with no specific instructions for testing the drugs. It also removes a requirement that the drugs come from a licensed pharmacist. Kelley Henry, a Nashville-based assistant federal public defender who represents several death row inmates, described the new manual to the news outlet as "incomplete, truncated and vague." She added, "As of today, we still do not know the source of drugs, whether they are compounded, or whether they have been diverted from the market into a gray market, how they will be procured, stored, tested and administered." The 44-page document also redacts some titles and names and omits previously detailed steps for carrying out executions in Tennessee.