Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee Says Lethal Injection Executions Will Proceed as Scheduled, Despite Recent Botch and Mounting Concerns

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee Says Lethal Injection Executions Will Proceed as Scheduled, Despite Recent Botch and Mounting Concerns

On July 7, 2026, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee told mem­bers of the media that the state’s sched­uled exe­cu­tions will pro­ceed with­out any changes to the lethal injec­tion pro­to­col, despite the state’s failed attempt to exe­cute Tony Carruthers in May. Gov. Lee stat­ed that the exe­cu­tion team fol­lowed the prop­er pro­to­col dur­ing the attempt­ed exe­cu­tion and that the prob­lem was with locat­ing a suit­able vein for an IV line, rather t…