Gov. Bill Lee and state lawmakers have made uneven progress on criminal justice reform over the past two years, ratcheting up sentencing and penalties in some areas while easing some aspects of the state parole process and expanding alternatives to incarceration. Passed during last year’s session, the so-called Truth in Sentencing legislation requires those convicted of specific violent crimes to serve 100 percent of a sentence with no opportunity for reduced time. The law, which runs counter to the goals of most criminal-justice advocates, passed without a signature from the governor. Meanwhile, dispatches continue to shed light on horrific conditions in state prisons, specifically delayed and insufficient inmate health care — state contractor CoreCivic was sued again in January for negligence, this time for its role in the 2022 death of Joshua Cody Lloyd at a Wayne County facility. Vaunted criminal justice reform rhetoric from Lee has fallen by the wayside since reelection. In its place, Lee has shown a renewed interest in getting more state executions on the books after an internal investigation into its lethal injection process forced a hiatus through much of last year.
This session, legislation is passing up systemic reforms in favor of targeted tweaks and stronger punishment. House Majority Leader William Lamberth (R-Portland) has already made progress with a pair of bills that would formalize bio-surveillance for DUI offenders, legalizing GPS tracking for ignition breathalyzers and ankle monitors for repeat offenders that test sweat for alcohol. Two West Tennessee lawmakers want a report on the state’s vast inventory of untested sexual assault collection kits — advocates say there are very many. Legislators plan to set up a state witness protection program; others, led by state Sen. Mark Pody (R-Lebanon), aim to dismantle community oversight boards operating in local municipalities like Nashville.
While the state awaits a revised lethal injection protocol from Tennessee Department of Correction Commissioner Frank Strada, a few proposed interventions could further complicate the state’s ability to carry out executions. Pody also sponsors a bill to make public the entities that supply TDOC’s three-drug cocktail of midazolam, vecuronium bromide and potassium chloride. Doxxing the deadly supply chain would be a win for transparency and likely make a difficult procurement process nearly impossible for the state, which already struggles to get lethal injection supplies according to internal documents. Another bill would smooth the process for paying an expert hired to determine whether a death row defendant qualifies as intellectually disabled. In the case that the state can’t continue to rely on lethal injection for executions, legislation sponsored by Sen. Frank Niceley (R-Strawberry Plains) and Rep. Dennis Powers (R-Jacksboro) would confirm electrocution as the state’s alternative method of capital punishment.
This year, the Republican supermajority plans to focus on infrastructure, punishing Metro Nashville and culture-war issues
