Tennessee Death Row Inmates Sue To Block Use Of Electric Chair For Their Executions

By Tim Ghianni NASHVILLE Tenn. (Reuters) – Tennessee death row inmates whose execution dates have been set filed suit on Friday against the state to stop it from using the electric chair. “It was filed because the state of Tennessee stands alone as the only jurisdiction in the entire world which now involuntarily subjects inmates to the electric chair,” said federal public defender Kelly Henry, who represents five of the 11 condemned inmates named in the filing. She said the filing – with four different attorneys involved – amended a suit filed in November that challenged the process of lethal injections in the state and also said executioners’ names should be revealed. The Tennessee General Assembly in its last session passed a law making the electric chair the backup plan for Tennessee executions if the drugs for lethal injection become unavailable or if lethal injection has been deemed unconstitutional. Governor Bill Haslam signed that bill into law and it went into effect on July 1, according to Henry. That law followed similar proposals from various U.S.