On August 5, Tennessee executed Byron Black with pentobarbital. As reported by every media witness present for his execution, Mr. Black was not rendered unconscious but gasped for air and lifted his head multiple times, stating, “It hurts so bad. I can’t do this.”

His autopsy revealed that he suffered from pulmonary edema during his execution and that even after he was declared dead by the Tennessee Department of Correction (TDOC), Mr. Black experienced significant cardiac activity for at least two minutes.

Given the secrecy of Tennessee’s new protocol, its reliance on pentobarbital, the State’s refusal to deactivate Mr. Black’s defibrillator, and the total lack of judicial review, this result was predictable.

On December 11, the State of Tennessee plans to execute Harold Wayne Nichols in the same way.

Under Tennessee law, Mr. Nichols must select his method of execution no later than November 11. To better inform his ability to make this decision, his attorneys have requested information from the TDOC for months with no success. Given the grave problems that occurred during Mr. Black’s execution, this information is more critical than ever. To date, Mr. Nichols has received no information from the State and so he has not chosen an execution method. This means that the State will rely on lethal injection by default.

Mr. Nichols’ attorneys have filed suit in Knox County Chancery Court against the TDOC for violating the Tennessee Public Records Act by repeatedly refusing to release records related to the State’s execution process and recent executions. A hearing will occur this month.

“Tennesseans deserve to know that the Tennessee Department of Correction is following its own rules and that executions are being carried out in a manner that is not cruel and torturous,” said Mr. Nichols’ attorney Luke Ihnen. “Transparency is not optional, it’s the law.”

TAKE ACTION NOW: Send this updated letter to Governor Lee, urging him again to pause all executions until the court has had the opportunity to fully review this protocol.

What happened to Byron Black cannot be allowed to happen again

To learn more about the problems with lethal injection, TADP encourages you to attend an event this week with University of Richmond Law School Professor Corinna Barrett Lain, author of Secrets of the Killing State: The Untold Story of Lethal Injection, including an event on Wednesday, Nov. 12, at 7:00 p.m. CT at Christ The King Church in Nashville.

You can watch this Nov. 12 presentation on Facebook Live at bit.ly/lethalinjectionconvo.

You can also join us on Friday, Nov. 14, from Noon to 1 for lunch at First Congregational Church in Memphis. Lunch is provided. Register here.