TN-Specific ABA Report and Recommendations

In March 2007, the American Bar Association published a Tennessee-specific death penalty analysis that ultimately concluded that “the State of Tennessee currently does not guarantee a fair and accurate system for all capital defendants.” The full “Tennessee Specific Death Penalty Report” as well as supplemental materials can be found here. Specific problems with Tennessee’s death penalty system were identified and detailed reforms were recommended. At the time of publication, 93 reforms were recommended by ABA policy and Tennessee complied with only 7 of them. Since that time, there have been a couple critical changes to Tennessee’s death penalty practices but the signifcant change that is needed. Tennesseans for Capital Punishment Reform is actively chipping away at these necessary changes.