NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The State of Tennessee says it plans to execute 10 death row inmates between this April and November 2015.
The Tennessean says three executions are scheduled this year, with seven on the calendar in 2015.
Gov. Bill Haslam says he agrees with the decision to seek the executions.
Kelley Henry of the Federal Public Defender's office in Nashville says the state’s plan is unprecedented.
“Tennessee has only had six executions since 1976. To schedule nine real dates within the course of a year is shocking.”
The state sought the new execution dates after deciding to use a compounding pharmacy to create the lethal injections used.
Henry says her office will challenge that decision. Making reference to 2012 meningitis outbreak deaths and illnesses Tennessee suffered, Henry says there’s good reason to the use of a compounding pharmacy.
She’s especially concerned that the state refuses to reveal the name of the pharmacy being used.