Darrell Hines’ attorneys sent a letter to Tennessee Governor Bill Lee requesting that he grant their client a reprieve from his scheduled execution on August 13, “until the Tennessee Department of Correction (TDOC) can demonstrate it is capable of carrying out executions in accordance with the Constitution, state law, and its own protocol.”

TAKE ACTION NOW: Urge Governor Lee To Grant Darrell Hines a Reprieve

The letter from his attorneys requesting a reprieve explains that in December and January, Mr. Hines suffered multiple strokes that left him severely impaired. Since that time, he has lived in the prison infirmary. He is unable to walk, cannot move his left arm, hand, or leg, or see out of his left eye. He cannot move without assistance. He also has major neurological and cognitive impairments and is in constant pain.

“It is grotesque that TDOC plans to lift this frail, debilitated man from his infirmary bed and strap him onto an execution gurney,” said Kit Thomas, one of Mr. Hines’ attorneys. “We are asking Governor Lee to avoid the serious risk of another botched execution by granting Mr. Hines’s reprieve request.”

The letter references Tony Carruthers’ failed execution on May 21, during which executioners spent 90 minutes repeatedly jabbing him in his arms, hand, feet, chest, and neck in an attempt to establish an intravenous line before the execution was finally halted.

Read more about Mr. Carruthers’ failed execution attempt in Elizabeth Bruenig’s new piece for The Atlantic.

Mr. Hines’ lawyers assert that Mr. Carruthers’ botched execution attempt “demonstrates that [TDOC] remains incapable of effectively performing executions by lethal injection even in the absence of [the] additional medical complications” that Mr. Hines’ condition presents. It also notes that “TDOC’s use of a physician who had not set a central line in over a decade in the botched execution of Mr. Carruthers is but the starkest example of its inability to constitutionally administer capital punishment under the 2025 Lethal Injection Protocol.”  

In connection with the litigation on Tennessee’s lethal injection protocol, Mr. Hines’ attorneys have also asked TDOC to confirm whether it plans to use the same doctor in his execution as it used for Mr. Carruthers, and whether it intends to execute him with expired drugs. TDOC refused to answer similar requests prior to Mr. Carruthers’ failed execution.

Given Mr. Hines’ medical condition and TDOC’s well-documented history of execution maladministration, Governor Lee should stop this execution to allow the court process around the lethal injection protocol to conclude. The risk to everyone, including Mr. Hines, those asked to carry out the execution, the victim’s family, the witnesses, and the Tennessee public is simply too great.

TAKE ACTION NOW: Urge Governor Lee To Grant Darrell Hines a Reprieve

Last week, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine gave a long-awaited press conference detailing the reasons that about he no longer supports the death penalty!

TAKE ACTION: Join with Ohioans and others from around the country to thank Governor DeWine and urge him to use his power of executive clemency for those on Ohio’s death row.

As our colleagues at Ohioans to Stop Executions (OTSE) shared, Governor DeWine noted the impact on victims’ family members saying, “One feeling, however, that seems to be universally held by victims’ families is that the long, long wait to see if the death penalty is carried out is frustrating and very hurtful for these families.”

He also pointed to the impact executions have on corrections staff. “We must be mindful of the impact preparations for, and the carrying out of executions have on them. They are the forgotten people — but they are real people. They are our fellow Ohioans.”

Governor DeWine’s evolution on the death penalty demonstrates his commitment to sound public policy as well as strong leadership. Given the gruesome botched execution attempt of Tony Carruthers a few weeks ago, we will continue to urge Governor Lee to show the same commitment and leadership by stopping executions in Tennessee.

P.S. Watch Governor DeWine’s press conference here.

(Picture from National Governors Association)