Tennessee judge allows inmates to add failed execution allegations to lawsuit

A Davidson County judge has allowed Tennessee death-row inmates to amend their lawsuit challenging the state’s lethal-injection protocol to include allegations about failed execution attempts involving Christa Pike and Tony Carruthers, along with problems in other executions. Carruthers’s execution was halted after staff could not establish an IV line, while Pike survived after receiving two doses of lethal-injection drugs. The inmates argue that flaws in the protocol and its implementation risk unconstitutional pain and suffering; the state has disputed the claims and challenged how the new allegations may be added. The ruling addresses the complaint, not whether Tennessee’s protocol is constitutional, and the state is expected to seek dismissal as the case proceeds.