NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Several state senators have sent a letter to Governor Bill Lee, calling on him to stop executions.
The lawmakers, which are members of the Government Operations, State and Local, and Transportation committees, made it clear they support the death penalty - but something must be done after this failure by Tennessee Department of Corrections.
More than once, the letter addresses Carruthers' botched execution attempt as failure. The lawmakers say execution staff tried for well over an hour to find a backup line on Carruthers, as required by protocol. The Senate Republicans recall this is not TDOC's first failure, mentioning the 2022 independent review that found the department was not following its own requirements and testing lethal injection chemicals.
"We raise these concerns not in opposition to the death penalty but in defense of it – out of respect for the rule of law, the verdicts of Tennessee juries, and the families still awaiting justice."
The letters calls for a review of Carruthers' execution, including if the personnel involved were qualified and how they were selected. They also want every mistake found to be corrected before another execution is attemped and the findings to be made public.
You can read the letter here.
Do you have more information about this story? You can email me at Megan.Scarano@NewsChannel5.com.
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