By Rich McKay

(Reuters] – Tennessee announced Monday that executions will be stopped until 2022, pending an independent review on state procedures to execute lethal injections. This is a procedure opponents claim can cause unnecessary suffering for those who are executed.

Advocates for death row prisoners raised concerns about the failure to ensure that the state followed its own testing procedures to determine the drug’s potency and sterilizity. This decision was made to postpone executions.

The governor intervened and delayed Oscar Franklin Smith’s execution in April. Smith was 72 years old, convicted for the 1989 stabbing deaths of his wife, Joanne, and their two children.

Lee declared a pause and stated that he believed the death penalty was appropriate for certain crimes.

The Republican Governor stated that the death penalty was a serious matter and stated in a statement that the Tennessee Department of Correction would not hesitate to ensure the correct procedures were followed.

Kelley Henry was the death row chief defense attorney at Federal Public Defender’s Nashville office. He filed the complaint which led Lee to issue a temporary reprieve for death row inmates.

She stated that “we feel the governor showed strong leadership” and had taken steps toward accountability.

Henry noted that “the use of three-drug cocktails is extremely problematic” and had caused massive failures elsewhere. Henry was speaking of painful deaths inmates who received lethal injections. She said, “Our clients would die inhumane deaths.”

The governor released that Ed Stanton, a former U.S. Attorney, will be in charge of the independent review.

Lee stated in a statement that scheduled executions will be halted until 2022 to permit for review and corrections.

Smith was among five Tennessee death row prisoners scheduled for execution this year. The Department of Correction reports that 46 men and 1 woman currently sit on Tennessee’s death row. According to the Department of Correction, February 2020 was the date that saw the last execution.