"Gov. Haslam signs bill to allow electric chair in Tennessee," is the AP report by Erik Schelzig, via the Tennessean. It's also available from the Christian Science Monitor.
Tennessee has decided to bring back the electric chair.
Republican Gov. Bill Haslam on Thursday signed a bill into law allowing the state to electrocute death row inmates in the event the state is unable to obtain drugs used for lethal injections.
Tennessee lawmakers overwhelmingly passed the electric chair legislation in April, with the Senate voting 23-3 and the House 68-13 in favor of the bill.
Richard Dieter, the executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, said Tennessee is the first state to enact a law to reintroduce the electric chair without giving prisoners an option.
"There are states that allow inmates to choose, but it is a very different matter for a state to impose a method like electrocution," he said. "No other state has gone so far."
"Tennessee to use electric chair when lethal drugs unavailable," is by Ed Payne at CNN.
As controversies over lethal injection drugs surge, Tennessee has found a way around the issue: It is bringing back the electric chair.
Eight states authorize electrocution as a method of execution but only at the inmate's discretion.
Now Tennessee is the first state to make use of the electric chair mandatory when lethal injection drugs are unavailable.
"Tennessee reinstates electric chair due to troubles with lethal injection drugs," by Tim Ghianni of Reuters, via Raw Story.
Tennessee’s electric chair, last used in 2007, is now an option for executions in the state if lethal injection drugs are unavailable, following a bill that was signed by the governor on Thursday.
The law was drawn up as various states were encountering difficulty in obtaining drugs for lethal injections because many pharmaceutical firms, mainly in Europe, object to their use in executions. The bill sailed through the state’s legislature.
“It gives us another option out there. We’ve had so many problems with lethal injection,” said the bill’s House sponsor Representative Dennis Powers, who confirmed the bill was signed by Governor Bill Haslam.
And:
Tennessee last executed an inmate in 2009 and the next execution is scheduled for October. The state corrections department has said it is confident of being able to secure drugs when needed. It has also said its electric chair is operational.
The Washington Post reports, "Tennessee’s new law brings back electric chair," by Lindsey Bever.
The electric chair, once the preferred method, fell into disuse after a number of botched executions appeared to prolong the deaths of condemned inmates, who received multiple shocks before dying.
“There are states that allow inmates to choose, but it is a very different matter for a state to impose a method like electrocution,” said Richard Dieter, the executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center. “No other state has gone so far.” Dieter said he expects legal challenges if the state decides to go through with an electrocution.
And:
First used by New York State in 1890, the electric chair was employed throughout the 20th century to execute hundreds. Since 1976, 158 inmates have been executed this way.
"Killing Inmates With The Electric Chair Is Now Legal In Tennessee," by Ian Millhiser at Think Progress.
This bill, which restores a method of killing inmates that was considered cutting edge in the 1890s, was enacted in reaction to a nationwide shortage of execution drugs arising out of growing international opposition to the death penalty. Many drug makers outright refuse to sell their products to state officials if those drugs will be used to kill someone. Many of these drugs are also manufactured overseas, where foreign governments can ban their sale for use in executions. Europe’s already imposed tight restrictions on the exportation of drugs commonly used to kill inmates. Moreover, in 2012, when several vials of a common anesthetic was accidentally shipped to prison officials in Missouri, Germany threatened “strict export controls” on this drug — which is used 50 million times a year by American hospitals — if these vials were used to kill anyone. The state eventually agreed to relinquish the drugs.
Earlier coverage from Tennessee begins at the link; you can also jump to news on the electric chair legislation. Related posts are in the electric chair category index.
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