Smith v. Parker

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE MIDDLE DISTRICT OF TENNESSEE NASHVILLE DIVISION OSCAR SMITH, et al., ) CAPITAL CASE ) Plaintiffs, ) ) NO. 3:19-cv-01138 v. ) ) JUDGE CAMPBELL TONY PARKER, et al., ) ) Defendants ) MEMORANDUM Plaintiffs—Oscar Smith, Byron Black, Henry Hodges, Farris Morris, and Pervis Payne— are five inmates on death row in the Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville, Tennessee. They have jointly filed a complaint pursuant to

42 U.S.C. § 1983

alleging that Tennessee’s default method of execution—lethal injection via a three-drug “cocktail”—constitutes cruel…