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A group of news outlets has sued Tennessee prison officials, claiming this is the case Execution rules Preventing journalists from fully witnessing lethal injections and hiding key moments from public scrutiny.
Under current procedures, reporters are only allowed to watch when the condemned inmate is already strapped to the stretcher.
In its filing, the media argues that the state’s protocol violates “the statutory and constitutional right of the public and the press to witness all executions,” and says Tennesseans deserve transparency from the moment they enter the chamber until the official declaration of death.
The plaintiffs are seeking a ruling declaring the protocols unconstitutional and an injunction allowing reporters to view the entire execution process.
India Pungarcher (left) hugs Rev. Ingrid McIntyre as protesters gather in the area reserved for anti-death penalty protesters outside the Riverbend Maximum Security Institution prior to the execution of Byron Black in Nashville, Tennessee, on Tuesday, August 5, 2025. (AP)
The filing says the ban “restricts the public’s ability to obtain information from independent observers” — effectively keeping executions safe from outside scrutiny.
The defendants are Kenneth Nelsen, director of the Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville – home to Tennessee’s execution chamber – and Frank Strada, commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Correction.
Reporters are held behind blinds until the inmate is handcuffed and hooked up to IV lines. The exact timing of the administration of lethal drugs is unknown as the medical team operates from a separate room.
Once the prisoner is declared dead, the warden announces over the intercom that the sentence has been carried out and the witnesses are ordered to leave the prison.
Tennessee Department of Corrections Commissioner Frank Strada reads a statement as relatives of victims of convicted murderer Byron Black listen outside Riverbend Maximum Security Institution following the execution of Byron Black on Tuesday, August 5, 2025, in Nashville, Tennessee. (AP)
The lawsuit argues that the First Amendment Both the U.S. Constitution and the Tennessee Constitution guarantee the public’s right to see the execution of the death penalty in full view – rather than behind partial secrecy. Tennessee law requires certain witnesses, including seven members of the media, to be present.
The plaintiffs pointed to the August execution of Byron Black, who was convicted of murdering his girlfriend and her two young daughters in the 1980s. During Black’s execution, the curtains in the witness room were open for only 10 minutes.
According to Black’s attorney, medical staff had difficulty finding veins in his arms, resulting in a visible pool of blood on his right side. His lawyer said that just attaching the IV tubes took 10 minutes.
Black reportedly told witnesses that he was in “so much pain” during the lethal injection.
A coalition of news organizations filed a lawsuit against Tennessee’s top prison official and a warden over access to executions. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki, File)
“Make no mistake, we all saw with our own eyes that the pentobarbital did not work as the state expert testified,” attorney Kelley Henry said in a statement at the time. “Mr. Black suffered.”
The lawsuit cites the state’s internal execution protocol and says media witnesses saw only fragments of the proceedings – when the blinds opened, when Black spoke his final words and when the view was cut off again.
The surveillance camera, the file notes, are reserved for the execution team, not the press.
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As a result, the lawsuit says, reporters “did not have access to this phase of the proceedings to report independently, leaving the public without a first-hand account from a neutral observer.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
