NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — The first bill to be prefiled for the upcoming legislative session in Tennessee seeks to give people with an intellectual disability who have been sentenced to death a chance to prove their disability and that they should not be executed.
The bill is meant to fix a glitch in Tennessee law that forbids the execution of the intellectually disabled but does not provide a way for people who were already sentenced to prove their disability. State Rep. G.A. Hardaway is sponsoring the legislation.
The Memphis Democrat says he hopes it will prevent the execution of Pervis Payne, who is scheduled to die on Dec. 3.
