Tennessee is rushing to resume executions under a new lethal injection protocol that risks severe pain and suffering. 

Executions paused in 2022 after the state admitted to botching its lethal injection process, failing to test execution drugs properly. An independent review exposed systemic failures, including officials providing false testimony.

Despite recommendations for change, the Tennessee Department of Correction has refused to confirm whether safeguards were implemented. Instead, it hastily introduced a secretive new protocol using pentobarbital, a drug linked to excruciating pain akin to drowning or suffocation.

This is not justice—it’s state-sanctioned torture.

The Eighth Amendment forbids cruel and unusual punishment, yet Tennessee is pushing forward with a method that may cause unnecessary suffering. If there’s doubt about the humanity of this process, executions must stop until full transparency is provided.

Nine death row inmates have sued the state over this flawed protocol. The courts must determine if Tennessee is once again violating constitutional rights. No executions should proceed while these concerns remain unresolved.

Governor Bill Lee and the Tennessee Supreme Court must act now. We demand an immediate halt to executions under this unproven, dangerous protocol. Tennessee deserves a system that values transparency and justice—not secrecy and cruelty.