Tennessee planning 7 executions after years with none

NASHVILLE – Tennessee is planning to execute seven people over the next two years, after executing only eight since 1960.

On Friday, the Tennessee Supreme Court set execution dates for six death row inmates in 2019 and 2020. A seventh inmate, David Earl Miller, was already scheduled to die on Dec. 6.

Tennessee has executed two inmates this year. The latest was Edmund Zagorski, who died in the electric chair earlier this month.

The executions come after the courts turned back several legal challenges to the state’s two methods of execution — lethal injection using midazolam and two other drugs, and electrocution.

According to a news release from the state Supreme Court, all the inmates have previously had execution dates set and then vacated because of legal challenges.