TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Stacey Shrader Joslin on Apr 9, 2026

The Tennessee Supreme Court has temporarily blocked a lower court's order allowing media to view more parts of state-run executions, the Associated Press reports. In January, a Nashville chancellor issued an injunction favoring a coalition of news organizations suing for greater access to execution proceedings. The high court’s ruling restores the previous process, which will remain in place during the appeals process. The state, which is opposed to the expansion, argues there is no constitutional right to observe executions and that additional access would risk exposing the identities of execution team members. Media organizations argue they have a constitutional and statutory right to observe executions in their entirety.