Tennessee reverses course, releases redacted execution manual with vague details

Tennessee's Department of Correction has released a redacted version of its newly completed execution manual after initially refusing to do so. The 44-page document blacks out sporadic titles and team names, and omits previously detailed steps on carrying out the death penalty in the Volunteer State. The new manual contains only a single page on the lethal injection chemicals with no specific directions for testing the drugs. It also removes a requirement that the drugs come from a licensed pharmacist. Yet the new protocol does include several new additions, including now authorizing the state to deviate from the protocol whenever the Correction Department commissioner deems it necessary.