Sarah Kelly of the Nashville Scene has again written a great article on the "behind the scenes" work that went into the new lethal injection protocols in Tennessee. What was uncovered in documents turned over to the Scene was that the committee reviewing the protocols was actually moving toward changing the controversial 3 drug cocktail which is currently used to a single drug protocol. Then suddenly, the committee abandoned all talk of changing the cocktail and issued a report leaving the state with a virtually unchanged method of execution. The question is why?

Attorneys for E.J. Harbison, scheduled to be executed on Sept. 26, are involved in a hearing this week challenging the constitutionality of the 3-drug cocktail. Harbison's attorneys have requested autopsy results for Philip Workman, the only inmate executed under the new protocol, in order to establish if he was given enough of the anesthetic to remain unconscious throughout the procedure. If the autopsy report is not complete, Judge Aleta Trauger indicated that Dr. Bruce Levy, medical examiner, should be prepared to testify as to why the results have not been completed.

And so the controversy continues...why is the state so resistant to cleaning up this protocol? Hopefully, E.J. Harbison's attorneys can continue to push this issue, not only ensuring a stay for Harbison, but pushing the state to enact some real reform concerning the lethal injection procedure. Until then, Tennessee will be faced with continuing challenges to a protocol that cannot ensure it doesn't inflict unnecessary suffering, not only to the inmates but to those who are asked to administer it.