CAPITAL PUNISHMENT

TN Judge Upholds Lethal-Injection Method

Rules process is constitutional.

A Tennessee judge ruled Wednesday that the state’s lethal-injection process for executing inmates was constitutional. Davidson County Chancery Judge Claudia Bonnyman upheld the process and said the plaintiffs failed to prove the one-drug method led to a slow and painful death. She also added that the plaintiffs, who are 33 death-row inmates, didn’t prove there have been problems in states where the lethal-injection process has been used. Plaintiffs’ attorney Kelley Henry said they plan to appeal. The state uses compounded pentobarbital, because the only commercial producer of the drug has banned distribution for executions. Tennessee has not executed an inmate for more than five years due to legal battles and challenges in obtaining lethal-injection drugs.