Rep. Bill McAfee, R-Chattanooga, who is handling the bill for the administration in the House, says it is needed to protect people involved in execution from threats and harassment. There have been some calls made to the Department of Correction by people trying to find out names of people who might be participating. It is an intense issue. The legislature's Corrections Oversight Committee approved the bill in a quickly called meeting last week. My concern and the administration's concern is we don't want hard-working Tennesseans to be scrutinized and criticized and embarrassed.
Nobody knows what is going to happen, and they want to be prepared.
Texas and Florida are among the states that have similar procedures, Texas by rule of that state's correction department and Florida by state law. There have been 610 executions in the United States since 1976, according to the Death Penalty Information Center, and Texas leads the list with 206. Associated Press content is Copyrighted by The Associated Press.