Well, the Governor did it. He had a hearing, so he's all about "open government," to talk about the execution protocols. Of course, TDOC did it on the afternoon of Holy Thursday, a time at which I'm usually already fasting and was on my way out of town. I didn't hear anything about it until Tuesday afternoon and I didn't see it in the papers until Wednesday, the day before!

And of course the other question is how is the public supposed to comment on a protocol that we haven't seen yet? Is it designed by doctors? I don't know. Has it been reviewed by independent experts? I don't know. Will the completed protocols be available for meaningful review before we carry out an execution (Phillip Workman is scheduled to die on May 9th)? I don't know. But I doubt it.

And really, this should be a no brainer. A good piece in The City Paper, "Take Time Deciding Ultimate Penalty," today makes this point. No one should be in favor of carrying out executions in an inhumane manner. Florida is taking this process seriously and has had a number of serious hearings and discussion about the process. Why can't Tennessee have some real hearings, with a fair amount of warning in advance and a chance for people all around the state to make comments and share their concerns.