U.S. District Judge Aleta Trauger has ruled that Tennessee’s new lethal injec­tion pro­ce­dures are cru­el and unusu­al, a deci­sion that halts exe­cu­tions in the state. Trauger stat­ed that Tennessee’s new lethal injec­tion pro­to­cols, released in April 2007, present ​“a sub­stan­tial risk of unnec­es­sary pain” and vio­late death row inmate Edward Jerome Harbison’s con­sti­tu­tion­al pro­tec­tions under the Eighth Amendment. She added that the pro­to­cols do not ade­quate­ly ensure that inmates are prop­er­ly anes­thetized dur­ing lethal injec­tions, a prob­lem that could ​“result in a ter­ri­fy­ing, excru­ci­at­ing death.” The deci­sion not­ed that State Department of Corrections Commissioner George Little adopt­ed the new guide­lines despite hav­ing knowl­edge about the remain­ing risks of exces­sive pain for inmates.

Harbison was sched­uled to be exe­cut­ed on September 26 for a 1983 mur­der. Though Trauger did not issue a stay or throw out the death sen­tence for Harbison, who has exhaust­ed his appeals, the deci­sion does halt exe­cu­tions in the state until the state adopts a con­sti­tu­tion­al method of exe­cu­tion. Last week, Tennessee exe­cut­ed Daryl Holton by elec­tro­cu­tion, the first exe­cu­tion using this method since 1960.

(Associated Press, September 19, 1007). See Lethal Injections.

Citation Guide