Tennessee on Thursday released a redacted version of its newly completed execution manual, blacking out sporadic titles and team names throughout the notably trimmed-down document that now provides vague guidelines and omits previously detailed steps on carrying out the death penalty.
The Tennessee Department of Correction initially refused to hand over the manual when pressed by The Associated Press, arguing that the state had to keep the entire manual secret to protect the identities of the executioner and other people involved. However, on Thursday, the agency abruptly reversed course and provided the AP with a copy of the lethal injection protocol. Their only explanation for the change was that the state was revising its decision.
The 44-page manual is noticeably shorter than the 2018 version the state had been operating under, which contained nearly 100 pages, including 11 pages detailing how lethal injection drugs should be procured, stored and administered. The state's failure to follow those procedures forced Republican Gov. Bill Lee in 2022 to call a last-minute halt to the execution of inmate Oscar Smith and then place a moratorium on new executions while the process was under review.
An independent report later found that none of the drugs prepared for the seven inmates executed since 2018 had been fully tested as required by the manual. Later, the state Attorney General’s Office conceded in court that two of the people most responsible for overseeing Tennessee’s lethal injection drugs “incorrectly testified” under oath that officials were testing the chemicals as required.
