TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Julia Wilburn on Jan 20, 2026

Davidson County Chancellor I'Ashea Myles on Friday granted a temporary injunction in a lawsuit seeking greater access and transparency to executions in Tennessee. The Nashville Banner, which is one of the plaintiffs in the suit, reports that Myles ordered the following two changes in the state's lethal injection protocol. First, one hour prior to the entry of witnesses, all members of the execution team will put on PPE suits covering their identification badges and hair. They will also be offered a mask to further conceal their identities if they want. Second, official witnesses shall be moved to the witness room no later than 9:45 a.m., and the curtains to the execution chamber will be opened no later than 10 a.m. and remain open until the pronouncement of death. Myles ordered similar changes to the electrocution protocol. The decision comes after the state executed Byron Black on Aug. 5, 2025, and his lawyers said he had been "tortured." Attorneys for Christa Pike, scheduled to be executed on Sept. 30, also have challenged the protocol. A hearing on the state’s motion to dismiss that suit is set for Feb. 13.