Capital punishment in Tennessee

Capital punishment is legal in the U.S. state of Tennessee.

In Tennessee, hanging was a legal method of execution until 1913, when executions were suspended for two years. In 1915, the electric chair was introduced and used for 45 years. Between 1960 and 2000, the death penalty however was not applied in this state–the death penalty was reinstated there in 1975, but executions only resumed in 2000, with the lethal injection that had become legal method of execution at the end of this period. However, those sentenced to death before 1998 can request to be executed in the electric chair; moreover, faced with difficulties in acquiring the drugs needed for lethal injections, Teneseee law was amended to once more permit electrocution as a backup method, in case of any problems with acquiring the drugs needed for lethal injections.

Today, approximately 100 condemned prisoners are incarcerated on the state's death row. The Tennessee Supreme Court sets execution dates. The Governor alone decides whether to grant or deny clemency; the Tennessee Board of Probation and Parole makes a recommendation in each case but the Governor is not required to following the Board's recommendation.

Executions take place in Nashville at 10am (the time was 1am until 2009).

In 2007, Tennessee established by legislation a Committee to Study the Administration of the Death Penalty.[1][2][3] After 16 months of analysis and hearings, the study committee on the death penalty suggested to reform the death penalty without abolishing it, including creating an independent authority to review death sentences.

Of the two women sentenced to death, Gaile Owens was pardoned in July 2010 due to a sentence deemed "disproportionate" (she was convicted in 1986 for having killed her husband who beat her).[4] The second woman, Christa Pike, who was convicted in 1996 for having tortured to death a fellow Job Corps dormitory resident, remains on death row.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Gene L. Davenport (1 February 2009). Though the Mountains Tremble: Biblical Reflections on Contemporary Society. Wipf and Stock Publishers. p. 140. ISBN 978-1-55635-562-2.
  2. ↑ "STATE REPORTS ON CAPITAL PUNISHMENT ISSUES". National Conference of State Legislatures. 2010-08-12. Retrieved 2016-05-13.
  3. ↑ "Public Chapter No. 549" (PDF). PUBLIC ACTS, 2007. Tennessee State Government. 2007-06-27. Retrieved 2016-05-13.
  4. ↑ Tamburin, Adam (2015-02-07). "Gaile Owens: 'I still struggle' with freedom". The Tennessean. Retrieved 2016-05-13.


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