Entries tagged with “Bill Lee”
Oct 08, 2026
Tennessee Court Orders Officials to Preserve Evidence from Failed Execution of Christa Pike, As She Regains Consciousness
On October 7, a Tennessee judge issued a broadly worded order requiring the state to preserve all evidence from the failed September 30 execution attempt of Christa Pike. Her attorneys reported on October 6 that she has regained consciousness and is speaking, although her overall prognosis remains uncertain. Davidson County Chancery Court Judge I’Ashea Myles granted a motion filed by Ms. Pike’s legal team, which sought to prevent the loss of records and physical evidence from the botched…
Botched Executions
,Oct 01, 2026
Tennessee Botches Another Execution Despite Earlier Warnings from Attorneys; Christa Pike Was Alive Hours After Attempt Began
Christa Pike remained alive more than an hour after the state of Tennessee began its attempt to execute her on September 30, 2026. It was the latest in a series of troubled executions by the Tennessee Department of Corrections. At a press conference outside the prison, media witnesses sharing their observations were interrupted by emergency vehicles arriving to take Ms. Pike to a local hospital. As outlined in the new execution protocol, Tennessee prison officials administered two doses of…
Upcoming Executions
,Women
,Sep 29, 2026
Governor Bill Lee Denies Clemency for Christa Pike, Refusing to Stop Tennessee’s First Execution of a Woman in More Than 200 Years
For updates on the botched execution attempt of Christa Pike on September 30, please see our full story here. On September 28, 2026, Governor Bill Lee denied a clemency request from death-sentenced prisoner Christa Pike, who is scheduled to be executed on September 30. Gov. Lee announced, “[a]fter deliberate consideration of Christa Gail Pike’s request for clemency, and after a thorough review of the case,” he said he would uphold “the sentence of the State of Tennessee,” noting he did not…
Upcoming Executions
,Women
,Sep 14, 2026
Christa Pike Requests Clemency Ahead of September 30 Execution Date; Experts’ Amicus Brief Points to ‘Substantial Risk’ of Re-traumatization
For updates on the September 30, 2026 failed execution attempt of Christa Pike, please see our full story here. Lawyers for Christa Pike, the only woman on Tennessee’s death row, filed a 226-page clemency petition with Governor Bill Lee, asking him to commute her death sentence to life in prison without the possibility of parole ahead of her September 30 execution date. Ms. Pike’s clemency petition outlines the case her team has built over decades of appeals: her actions at 18 years old cannot…
Upcoming Executions
,Jul 23, 2026
Death-Sentenced Prisoner Asks Tennessee Supreme Court to Conditionally Stay Execution as State Refuses to Disclose Whether it Will Use Same Physician from Botched May Execution
On July 20, 2026, attorneys for death-sentenced prisoner Darrell Hines, in a new filing, asked the Tennessee Supreme Court to conditionally stay Mr. Hines’ August 13 execution date because the Tennessee Department of Corrections (TDOC) has refused to identify whether it will use the same physician involved in the state’s failed execution attempt of Tony Carruthers. Pointing to an extreme risk of pain and suffering, as evidenced by Mr. Carruthers’ botched execution, counsel for Mr. Hines has…
Upcoming Executions
,Jul 13, 2026
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee Says Lethal Injection Executions Will Proceed as Scheduled, Despite Recent Botch and Mounting Concerns
On July 7, 2026, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee told members of the media that the state’s scheduled executions will proceed without any changes to the lethal injection protocol, despite the state’s failed attempt to execute Tony Carruthers in May. Gov. Lee stated that the execution team followed the proper protocol during the attempted execution and that the problem was with locating a suitable vein for an IV line, rather than with the protocol itself. “I think, as we have observed, everything…
Botched Executions
,Jul 07, 2026
Tennessee Republican State Senators Call on Governor Lee to Review the “Incompetent Administration” Leading to the Botched Execution of Tony Carruthers
In a letter dated June 25, 2026, a group of nine Tennessee Republican senators called on Governor Bill Lee to commission an independent review of the failed execution of Tony Carruthers, to order the correction of “every deficiency” found in this review, and to make information about the execution team publicly available “so that the Department [of Corrections’] readiness can be independently verified.” While the senators maintain their support for the administration of the death penalty, they…
Botched Executions
,May 26, 2026
Tennessee’s Botched Execution of Tony Carruthers Raises Questions About Medical Qualifications Among Concerns with Innocence and Due Process
Tennessee’s attempt to execute Tony Carruthers on May 21, 2026, failed after execution team members could not establish an intravenous line after more than an hour of attempts, prompting Governor Bill Lee to grant a one-year reprieve. In a written statement, the Tennessee Department of Corrections said medical personnel had quickly established a primary IV line but were unable to establish a backup line as required by the state’s execution protocol. Efforts to insert a central line also failed…
May 20, 2026
130,000 People Urge Clemency for Tony Carruthers in Advance of Tennessee’s Planned Execution
Absent court action, Tony Carruthers is scheduled to be executed in Tennessee on May 21, 2026, despite untested DNA evidence, an innocence claim, and serious mental illness concerns. On May 18, faith leaders, civil rights advocates and community members marched to the state capitol to urge Governor Bill Lee to grant Mr. Carruthers clemency or stay his execution to allow additional DNA testing, delivering a petition with over 130,000 signatures. Gov. Lee announced on May 19 that he has no plans…
Upcoming Executions
,Women
,Jan 27, 2026
Death-Sentenced Prisoner Christa Pike Files Religious Challenge to Tennessee’s Execution Protocol
For updates on the September 30, 2026 failed execution attempt of Christa Pike, please see our full story here. Christa Pike, the only woman on Tennessee’s death row, has filed a lawsuit in the Davidson County Chancery Court challenging the state’s lethal injection protocol, asserting it violates her constitutional rights and conflicts with her religious beliefs. The state’s new execution protocol relies solely on pentobarbital to induce respiratory and cardiac arrest, rather than the former…
Dec 08, 2025
Tennessee Execution Set to Proceed Despite Mounting Concerns Over State’s Lethal Injection Protocol
Harold Nichols is scheduled to be executed by lethal injection on December 11, 2025, despite questions from doctors and lawyers about whether Tennessee’s execution protocol causes unnecessary pain and suffering. Mr. Nichols was sentenced to death for the 1988 rape and murder of Karen Pooley, a Chattanooga State University student, and his case involves a broader legal battle over the secrecy of Tennessee’s lethal injection protocol. At the center of the controversy surrounding the state’s…
Aug 05, 2025
Unless Governor Lee Intervenes, Tennessee Will Execute Byron Black, A Man with Intellectual Disability, and Risk a Torturous Execution Due to His Heart Defibrillator
Update August 5, 2025: All (multiple) media witnesses who observed the execution report that Mr. Black was observed repeatedly lifting his head, “sighing” and “groaning” during his execution, at one point saying “It’s hurting so bad.” He demonstrated “clear, audible signs of distress” for several minutes. “It was unanimous among all of us that he was in distress.” He was declared dead at 10:43 CT. On July 31, 2025, the Tennessee Supreme Court vacated a preliminary injunction issued by the…
Upcoming Executions
,Jul 24, 2025
Tennessee Court Orders Heart Defibrillator Disconnected Ahead of Byron Black’s Scheduled Execution
On July 18, 2025, the Davidson County Chancery Court issued a preliminary injunction requiring the Tennessee Department of Corrections (TDOC) to ensure that Byron Black’s implanted heart device (cardiac implantable electronic device, or CIED) is switched off just ahead of his execution by a cardiac specialist or qualified technician working under such supervision. In June 2025, counsel for Mr. Black filed a motion for a preliminary injunction, explaining that because of his CIED, he faces a…
May 27, 2025
Tennessee Governor Allows State’s First Execution in Five Years to Proceed Despite Concerns Over Lethal Injection Drug
On May 22, 2025, Tennessee executed Oscar Smith by lethal injection, marking the state’s first execution in five years despite a pending lawsuit challenging the state’s new lethal injection protocol that relies on one drug — pentobarbital. Other death row prisoners and attorneys for Mr. Smith had urged Governor Bill Lee to grant a reprieve, citing an upcoming January 2026 trial that will determine the constitutionality of the new execution protocol. They argued that significant concerns persist…
Victims' Families
,May 14, 2025
Murder Victims’ Family Members Ask Tennessee Governor Lee to Halt Scheduled Executions
On May 8, 2025, a group of family members who have lost loved ones to violence in Tennessee delivered a letter to Governor Bill Lee’s office requesting that he halt the state’s upcoming scheduled executions. In their letter, the group of 51 “victims, survivors, and family members of those impacted by violent crime” argue the death penalty does not act as a healing tool for victims and takes away from state-funded resources that could help with their healing. For these individuals, “access to…
Apr 16, 2025
Tennessee Death Row Prisoners Ask Governor Lee to Halt Scheduled Executions While Courts Assess Constitutionality of New Lethal Injection Protocol
On April 10, 2025, attorneys for Tennessee death row prisoners Oscar Smith and Byron Black called on Governor Bill Lee to issue a temporary reprieve in their cases. In their letter, the attorneys ask Gov. Lee “to pause all executions in Tennessee until March 1, 2026,” to permit a pending case challenging the constitutionality of the state’s new pentobarbital lethal injection procedure to be decided. In late December 2024, the Tennessee Department of Corrections (TDOC) completed a multi-year…
Mar 25, 2025
Records Show Tennessee Officials Have Spent Nearly $600,000 of Taxpayer Funds for Lethal Injection Drugs Since 2017
According to records requested by The Tennessean, between 2017 and 2025 the Tennessee Department of Correction (TDOC) spent nearly $600,000 of taxpayer funds obtaining drugs for lethal injection executions. Specific information about the drugs’ sources and origins remains unknown because of the state’s secrecy provisions. During this time period seven executions were carried out: five by electrocution, two by lethal injection. The TDOC initially refused to respond to The Tennessean’s February…
Methods of Execution
,Mar 18, 2025
Nine Tennessee Death Row Prisoners Challenge State’s One-Drug Lethal Injection Protocol, Citing “High Risk of Torturous Death”
On March 14, 2025, a group of nine death row prisoners in Tennessee filed a lawsuit challenging the state’s sole use of pentobarbital in its revised lethal injection protocol, arguing it creates a “high risk of a torturous death.” In December 2024, the Tennessee Department of Correction (TDOC) completed a multi-year lethal injection protocol review and announced that instead of the previous three-drug protocol, the state would shift to rely on just one drug: pentobarbital. Earlier this month…
Methods of Execution
,Jan 03, 2025
Tennessee to Resume Executions with Single-Drug Lethal Injection Protocol
On December 27, 2024, the Tennessee Department of Correction (TDOC) completed a multi-year lethal injection protocol review and announced that instead of the previous three-drug cocktail, lethal injection executions will use a single-drug barbituate, pentobarbital. Ohio was the first state to use pentobarbital, in the March 2011 execution of Johnnie Roy Baston. State officials now use single drug protocols in 14 states, including Tennessee, as well as in…
Research
May 17, 2024
Tennessee Authorizes Death Penalty for Child Sexual Assault in Direct Challenge to Supreme Court Precedent
On May 9, Governor Bill Lee of Tennessee signed a bill authorizing the death penalty for aggravated rape of a child, following Florida’s passage of a similar law last year. Both laws contradict longstanding Supreme Court precedent holding the death penalty unconstitutional for non-homicide crimes. Tennessee’s law takes effect on July 1. The state has had a death penalty moratorium in place since May 2022 after Governor Lee learned that state officials had failed to test execution drugs for…
Issues
Methods of Execution
,May 02, 2023
As Tennessee Legislature Ends, Two Death-Penalty Bills Fail and One Passes
Bills to alter the state’s method of execution and to make the execution process more transparent failed in Tennessee’s legislature this year as its session concluded. In an effort to facilitate executions bogged down by the state’s problems with lethal injection, a bill was proposed to give prisoners the option of the firing squad for their execution. Following an independent investigation into Tennessee’s lethal injection protocols, Governor Bill Lee (R) had suspended executions on January 5…
Executions
Executions Overview
,Botched Executions
,Jan 17, 2023
Tennessee Gov. Says No Death Warrants Until Execution Protocol Problems Fixed
Tennessee will not resume executions until it fixes systemic problems with the administration of its execution protocol, Governor Bill Lee has announced. “It’s a very important issue that has to be done correctly,” Lee told reporters on January 5, 2023. “And we will take the time to fix the protocol and to make certain that we don’t move forward until everything’s in place.” Lee, a Republican, halted the execution of Oscar Smith on April 21, 2022 after learning that the Tennessee Department of…
Executions
Jan 04, 2023
Report: Tennessee Repeatedly Violated Execution Protocol Since 2018
An independent investigation into Tennessee’s execution practices has found that the state repeatedly failed to follow its own protocols in performing seven executions and preparing for an eighth between 2018 and 2022. Governor Bill Lee (pictured) commissioned the investigation in May 2022, shortly after he called off the execution of Oscar Smith “[d]ue to an oversight in preparation for lethal injection.” The report, which was publicly released on December 28, 2022, found that the same…
Executions
Executions Overview
,Jun 23, 2022
Tennessee Executions Could Be on Hold for Years Following Independent Investigation, Anticipated Court Challenges
Tennessee executions could be on hold for years, as the state conducts an independent investigation into widespread non-compliance with its execution protocol and litigates the constitutionality of revisions expected to be made to its execution procedures. The anticipated delay, first reported by the Associated Press June 13, 2022, is a likely by-product of a decision by Governor Bill Lee to cancel all executions scheduled in the state for the remainder of 2022 and an agreement entered into by…
Issues
Botched Executions
,Jun 03, 2022
Court Documents Reveal Widespread Irregularities in Tennessee Executions
Court records from a lawsuit brought by Tennessee death-row prisoners have revealed widespread irregularities in the state’s execution practices. A series of four articles published in the Nashville newspaper, The Tennessean, on May 25, 2022 documented a rash of non-compliance with Tennessee’s lethal injection protocol by corrections officials and execution contractors. Examining thousands of pages of records filed in federal civil rights lawsuits by death-row prisoners Terry Lynn King and…
Issues
Upcoming Executions
,May 03, 2022
Tennessee Governor Halts Executions Scheduled for 2022 to Conduct Review of Execution Protocol ‘Oversight’
Tennessee Governor Bill Lee (pictured) has paused all executions scheduled for 2022 and called for an “independent review” of the state’s execution protocol to address a “technical oversight” that led him to halt Oscar Franklin Smith’s execution less than a half-hour before it was scheduled to be carried out on April 21, 2022. In a news release issued at 5:43 a.m. on Monday, May 2, 2022, Lee announced that the state would retain former U.S. Attorney Ed Stanton to conduct a third-party review…
Issues
Apr 02, 2021
Clemency Efforts for Pervis Payne Gain Widespread Support as Execution Reprieve Set to Expire
Clemency efforts on behalf of Tennessee death-row prisoner Pervis Payne (pictured) are surging, as a petition on his behalf by The Innocence Project had collected more than 600,000 signatures by March 26, 2021 and social media campaigns supporting his cause continue to attract increasing attention worldwide. Payne’s claims of innocence, intellectual disability, and racial bias have resonated with supporters from numerous religious, legal, and civil rights organizations, including the Tennessee…
Issues
Upcoming Executions
,Nov 09, 2020
Citing COVID-19, Governor Grants Reprieve to Tennessee Death-Row Prisoner Pervis Payne
Citing the coronavirus pandemic, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee has granted a temporary reprieve to death-row prisoner Pervis Payne, halting his scheduled December 3, 2020 execution. The execution was the last scheduled by any state in 2020, assuring that states will carry out fewer executions in 2020 than in any other year since 1983. Lee issued a temporary reprieve on November 6, 2020 that will remain in effect until April 9, 2021. A short statement released by the governor in connection with…
Issues
Victims' Families
,New Voices
,Jan 22, 2020
Corrections Personnel, Victims’ Families, Jurors Urge Clemency for Tennessee Death-Row “Lifesaver”
Saying that Nicholas Sutton “has gone from a life-taker to a life-saver,” lawyers for the Tennessee death-row prisoner filed an application for clemency with Governor Bill Lee on January 14, 2020. The clemency application, which requests that Lee commute Sutton’s sentence to life without parole, contained affidavits of support from seven Tennessee correctional officials, members of the victims’ families, and five of the jurors in the case. Sutton currently faces a February 20, 2020 execution…