The State of Tennessee Pauses Executions to Review Lethal Injections
Gov. Bill Lee paused executions in Tennessee for the rest of the year on Monday after revealing that the state had failed to ensure its lethal injection drugs were properly tested. The oversight forced Lee to abruptly halt the execution of Oscar Smith an hour before he was to die last month.
Lee didn’t initially disclose the reason for stopping Smith’s execution other than to say there was an “oversight” in the preparation of the lethal injection drugs. Tennessee’s execution protocols require any compounded drugs to be independently tested for potency, sterility and endotoxins. In his Monday statement, Lee said the drugs for Smith’s execution were tested for potency and sterility, but not endotoxins.
Smith’s attorneys had called for a moratorium on executions and independent review of the problems last week. In a Monday statement, Federal Public Defender Kelley Henry said the Republican governor’s decision shows “great leadership.”
