The Tennessee governor is refraining from weighing in on the attorney general's request to schedule executions for nine death-row prisoners and restore a 10th inmate's death sentence.
Republican Gov. Bill Lee said Thursday that it is Attorney General Herbert Slatery's prerogative to request the execution dates and to challenge a court's decision commuting a death sentence to life in prison.
As a 2018 gubernatorial candidate, Lee touted his Christian faith and highlighted his participation in inmate-mentoring programs in prisons.
Tennessee has executed five people since August 2018, including three by electrocution. Two of the executions have taken place since Lee took office. In those cases, the governor denied each of the inmates' requests for clemency.
The state has two more executions already scheduled for the coming months.
