Tennessee judge grants expanded media access to state-run executions

A judge ruled Friday that Tennessee prison officials must grant expanded access to media members to view state-run executions, after a coalition of news organizations including The Associated Press sued on claims that state execution protocols unconstitutionally limit thorough and accurate reporting.

Before Chancellor I'Ashea L. Myles' order, reporters witnessing lethal injections were limited to a short time period during which they could view the execution process. The coalition's lawsuit argued the protocols violate the public and press’s constitutional rights to witness the entirety of executions conducted by the Tennessee Department of Correction, "from the time the condemned enters the execution chamber until after the condemned is declared dead.”

The lawsuit sought a judgment that the protocols are unconstitutional and an injunction to allow the press to see the full execution process. Myles' order granted a temporary injunction allowing media members and other witnesses to see most of the execution process, with security procedures in place for those carrying out the procedures.

The lawsuit, filed in Davidson County Chancery Court in Nashville, names as defendants Kenneth Nelsen, warden of Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville that houses Tennessee’s execution chamber, and Frank Strada, commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Correction.

The department did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent after hours Friday to a department spokesperson.

During previous executions, media members began seeing what happens once the condemned person is already strapped to a gurney and hooked up to IV lines. They don’t know at which precise moment the injections begin and those administering the injections are in a separate room.

The protocol says that after the syringes of saline and pentobarbital are administered, a team leader signals to the warden and a five-minute waiting period begins. After that period, the blinds are closed, the camera is turned off and then the doctor comes in to determine if the person is dead. If that is the case, the warden announces on the intercom system that the sentence was carried out and witnesses are directed to exit.

Essentially, the process granted witnesses a 10 to 15 minute window where they could observe the process.

Prison officials argued that the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution does not grant the press a right of special access to information not regularly available to the public. They claimed that the restrictions are necessary because allowing the press to see the full execution would endanger prison security and people involved in the process.

The judge's order says members of the execution team shall wear a disposable protective suit covering the members' regular work uniform, identification badge and hair. Team members also will be offered a mask “to further conceal his or her identity should they so choose to wear one,” the judge wrote.

During executions involving lethal injection, curtains to the official witness room shall be opened to the execution chamber at 10 a.m., which, according to protocols, is when the inmate is secured with restraints on a gurney and the IV insertion process begins.

The curtains must remain open until the pronouncement of death, the judge ruled.

"This Court finds that a meaningful and full observation of executions allows the public to assess whether the state carries out death sentences in a lawful and humane manner and ensures that the execution process remains subject to democratic oversight," the judge wrote.

In addition to AP, the media coalition includes Gannett Co., Inc.; Nashville Public Media, Inc.; Nashville Public Radio; Scripps Media, Inc.; Six Rivers Media, LLC; and TEGNA INC.

FILE - Guards watch the areas reserved for demonstrators outside Riverbend Maximum Security Institution before the execution of Byron Black, Aug. 5, 2025, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey, File)

FILE - India Pungarcher, left, hugs Rev. Ingrid McIntyre as demonstrators gather in the area reserved for anti-death penalty protesters outside Riverbend Maximum Security Institution before the execution of Byron Black in Nashville, Tenn., Aug. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey, File)

U.S. Biathlon head coach Armin Auchentaller will leave the team at the end of this season after the Americans failed to win their first medal in the sport at the Winter Olympics.

No replacement was named, which is significant since he oversees both the men's and the women's teams. He took on the dual role when the previous men's team coach left after the 2022 Olympics.

Auchentaller, an Italian, brought the U.S. biathlon team inside knowledge to the Milan Cortina Games, having grown up skiing and racing at the range used for the Olympic competition. His assistant coach and the ski wax technicians are also from the Anterselva region. The team even produced a documentary about their quest for the teams' first Olympic podium finish: “Long Shots: U.S. Biathlon's Underdog Story.”

Yet they came up short.

Campbell Wright, the team's best hope for an Olympic medal after two silver medals at the world championships, said the skis the team was given for the 20-kilometer individual Olympic race were waxed poorly, making them slower on the ski tracks and less competitive in the race.

“The individual was a bit brutal, honestly, with the cards we were dealt,” he said after the 10-kilometer sprint race. “I don't think we had the best skis.”

Wright's best individual performance of the Olympics was eighth place in the 12.5-kilometer pursuit race. He also helped bring the men's team up to a fifth place in the 4 x 7.5-kilometer relay.

Only three of the eight U.S. team members, Wright, Paul Schommer and Deedra Irwin, finished the sprint race high enough to qualify for the pursuit race. And Campbell was the only U.S. team member to compete in the 15-kilometer mass start, finishing last in a race that showcases the top 30 biathletes based on Olympic and World Cup standings.

Auchentaller did not say where he was going or why.

"As I step away from my role with US Biathlon after 13 years, I do so with a full heart and deep gratitude," he said in the team's release. “This has never been just a job to me, it has been a shared mission, a daily commitment, and a journey that challenged and shaped me in ways I will always carry forward.”

U.S. Biathlon CEO Jack Gierhart praised Auchentaller for focusing on "building something that lasts.”

“He has shaped not only results, but the culture of this team that is grounded in excellence and built on respect, grit and a growth mindset, one that has elevated our performance and strengthened our entire organization,” he said.

Auchentaller's role with the U.S. team had changed over the years. He started out as the men's coach in 2009 but left to coach the Swiss women from 2014 to 2018, at which point he returned to coach the U.S. women's team.

Auchentaller was in that post during the Beijing Olympics when Irwin finished seventh in the 15-kilomether individual race, the highest U.S. individual placing in any Winter Games to this day. Norwegian Vegard Bitnes coached the men in Beijing, but left the team afterward and Auchentaller at that point oversaw both.

U.S. women’s team member Joanne Reid said combining the teams was detrimental to their performance. Irwin's best finishes in Italy were 34th, 35th and 47th. Teammate Margie Freed had the highest finish for the woman, 21st in the individual. Most of the other results were far behind.

“There was an objective and clear decline in women’s team results since they lost an exclusive women’s team coach,” Reid told The Associated Press in an email. “That’s a pattern that has been evident through coaching cycles in the program’s history, and not just from a single Olympic cycle. Running two different gender teams on the same training plan means one or the other is getting sub-optimal training.”

AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics

Campbell Wright, of the United States, competes in the men's 15-kilometer mass start biathlon race at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Anterselva, Italy, Friday, Feb. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)