TN Supreme Court stops electric chair suit, for now

Death row inmates cannot challenge the electric chair as an unconstitutional method of execution until they are told they will be killed that way, the Tennessee Supreme Court ruled on Thursday.

The unanimous ruling stops a pending lawsuit in which inmates claimed the state's backup method of execution, the electric chair, is unconstitutional. But it makes clear inmates can bring future challenges.

The court's opinion says the inmates who brought a lawsuit in Davidson County Chancery Court may never face the electric chair, so they cannot challenge it now. They would only face electrocution if the Tennessee Department of Corrections is unable to obtain lethal-injection chemicals or if lethal injection is declared unconstitutional.

The Supreme Court's opinion also fixed what attorneys for the inmates saw as a loophole in state execution protocol.

It requires the state to give inmates notice of the method of their execution, so if one were to be facing electrocution, the inmate could raise a legal challenge at that time.

"The Supreme Court's opinion ensures that the State of Tennessee will not be allowed to subject our clients to electrocution without a fair opportunity to litigate their claims," said Kelley Henry, a federal public defender who is representing the inmates. "We are grateful for that assurance."

The appeal was connected to a case in which more than 30 inmates are challenging Tennessee's method of lethal injection. The ruling should not impact that lawsuit, which is set for trial in Davidson County on Tuesday.

Reach Stacey Barchenger at 615-726-8968 or on Twitter @sbarchenger.