Execution date listed for this month as death row inmate set to become first woman put to death in Tennessee in 200 years

More than 30 years on death row

Ward determined that using a central line would represent only a minor adjustment to the execution process rather than a different method of execution. He rejected hanging as an alternative, describing it as more dangerous.

The court further noted that Tennessee’s prison system no longer has equipment for carrying out hangings, nor does it have anyone trained to perform them.

There is, however, one accommodation that will be made.

Pike requested that her religious Buddhist advisor be allowed inside the execution room. Ward acknowledged that an arrangement allowing the advisor to be present had already been reached before the August hearing. Her Buddhist advisor will therefore be with her when she dies.

Officials will also accommodate Pike’s transfer to Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville, with the move scheduled to take place 24 hours before her execution.