On May 4, 2007, Philip Workman filed a Complaint and Motion for Temporary Restraining Order in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee, seeking to enjoin the State of Tennessee from carrying out his execution through lethal injection. In April of 2007, the state released a new lethal injection protocol following a 90-day reprieve of all executions. Workman, who was represented by attorneys with the Office of the Federal Public Defender, argued that the new protocol was similar to those in other states that had been declared unconstitutional by federal courts. The plaintiff raised various claims under the Eighth, Ninth, and Fourteenth Amendments.

A hearing was held that day and the court (Judge Todd J. Campbell) issued a Temporary Restraining Order. The United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit (Judge Jeffrey F. Sutton) vacated the order, holding that the plaintiff unduly delayed in bringing his claims and was unlikely to be successful in the merits of his constitutional claims. Workman v. Bredesen, 2007 WL 1311330 (M.D. Tenn. May 7, 2007). The case was dismissed as moot after Workman was executed on May 9, 2007.

Angela Heverling - 07/27/2007


compress summary