Capital Defense Weekly is appalled that Tennessee has set five execution dates for June 28. They call it a "bloodbath." They can relax. The Memphis Commercial Appeal reports that three of the five still have both state and federal appeals left.
This false alarm is yet another reminder that execution dates are often not real. When the next round of appeals must be initiated by the inmate, an execution date may be set just to force his attorney to proceed with the next filing. Everyone knows that the execution will be stayed upon the commencement of the next round. Whenever someone says that an inmate was within hours of execution before a stay was granted, take it with a grain of salt. These kinds of date-settings and stays happen all the time.
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