With capital punishment becoming a hot-button again due to the botched execution of Clayton Lockett in Oklahoma at the end of April, Tennessee has elected to bring back the electric chair.
The Associated Press reports that Gov. Bill Haslam signed a bill yesterday which allows statewide prisons to electrocute inmates if the facilities are unable to secure the drugs used in lethal injections. A revealing fact is the overwhelming support for the new law:
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Furthermore, this makes Tennessee the first state to bring back the chair without giving inmates a choice:
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Dieter, who said legal challenges to electrocutions should be anticipated, told CNN that the potential practice was "cruel and unusual punishment."
This comes nearly a week after Utah Rep. Paul Ray pushed for the return of firing squads, saying they're "probably the most humane way to kill somebody."
[via Associated Press and CNN]
RELATED: Poll Shows Two-Thirds of Americans Support Alternatives to Death by Lethal Injection
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