Kay Ivey

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey has commuted Toforest Johnson's death sentence to life in prison without parole, citing insufficient direct evidence to justify execution. Johnson was convicted in 1998 for the 1995 murder of Jefferson County Deputy Sheriff William Hardy, largely on testimony from a paid "earwitness." Ivey said the move was not a declaration of innocence. The decision followed years of advocacy from former Attorney General Bill Baxley, former chief justices, convicting jurors, and the original prosecutor, over strong objections from Attorney General Steve Marshall, who urged Ivey to respect the jury's verdict. Critics note prosecutors gave contradictory accounts across multiple trials of who fired the fatal shot. Johnson's attorneys continue pursuing a new trial; Ivey has now commuted three death sentences while overseeing 27 executions.

Tennessee's Sept. 30 lethal injection attempt on death row inmate Christa Pike failed when she survived two doses of pentobarbital, the first known case of its kind. Pike, convicted in the 1995 torture-murder of 19-year-old classmate Colleen Slemmer, spent nearly a week unconscious on a ventilator before waking and speaking in a Nashville hospital. Her attorneys say execution team members could not properly establish IV lines, and had unsuccessfully asked the court to allow hanging instead given Pike's platelet disorder and small veins.

It marks Tennessee's second botched execution this year, after officials in May could not establish an IV line for Tony Carruthers, who received a one-year reprieve from Gov. Bill Lee. Corrections Commissioner Frank Strada, hired in 2023 after overseeing botched executions in Arizona, has since resigned. The incident has prompted renewed scrutiny elsewhere, including in South Dakota, where lawmakers this year considered (and effectively killed) a bill to repeal the death penalty. The cases add to wider scrutiny of lethal injection protocols nationally, including past moratoriums in Alabama, and fuel ongoing arguments over capital punishment's reliability as roughly 29 executions have been carried out across the U.S. so far in 2026.

Alabama executed Jeffery Lee, 49, by lethal injection Thursday evening at Holman Correctional Facility, pronounced dead at 6:22 p.m., for the 1998 murders of Jimmy Ellis and Elaine Thompson during a robbery at Jimmy's Pawn Shop in Orrville. Ellis, known for performing as masked Elvis impersonator "Orion," and Thompson were shot along with a third employee who survived by feigning death and later testified against Lee. In his final words, Lee expressed love for his family and fellow death row inmates.

The execution followed a judge's ruling that had blocked the state's original plan to execute Lee via nitrogen gas in June over constitutional concerns. The attorney general's office then sought a new date using lethal injection, despite a 2018 agreement tied to a prior lawsuit stating nitrogen hypoxia would be used if Lee were executed. His attorneys argued the switch violated that agreement; the U.S. Supreme Court denied a stay request hours before the execution.

Lee's case drew added scrutiny because the jury that convicted him voted 7-5 for life without parole, but the trial judge overrode that recommendation—a practice Alabama has since abolished, though not retroactively. Gov. Kay Ivey declined to grant clemency. Lee was the 27th person executed in the U.S. this year and the second in Alabama.

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey has praised a federal crackdown on truck-driving schools, following a joint action this week by the U.S. Department of Transportation, Department of Homeland Security, and Department of Justice that shut down 110 schools for English-proficiency violations and 160 more for failing DOT training standards. The agencies also launched the Joint Task Force Crossroads of America, a multistate effort targeting fraudulent commercial driver licensing and illegal trucking operations.

Ivey highlighted Alabama's own enforcement record, citing a partnership between the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency's Motor Carrier Safety Unit and ICE that began in October 2025. Over the past 11 months, the unit has assisted in detaining 561 people for immigration violations found during commercial vehicle stops and issued 1,022 English-proficiency violations since last January. Ivey also pointed to the Highway Safety and Fairness Act, signed in March and taking effect October 1, which requires foreign CDL holders to have U.S. work authorization and English proficiency, and criminalizes presenting fraudulent foreign CDLs. The state reports a 24 percent drop in commercial-vehicle fatalities this year. Alabama issues CDLs only to lawful permanent residents.

Tennessee lawmakers from both parties say they intend to honor Dolly Parton during the legislative session beginning next January, though no formal plan has been agreed upon. House Deputy Speaker Jason Zachary and Rep. John Ray Clemmons said leadership will consult Parton's family and friends before advancing any proposal, describing her as a unifying figure even in death.

The legislature has weighed tributes before: a 2021 bill to erect a Parton statue at the Capitol won rare bipartisan backing but was withdrawn after Parton herself asked lawmakers to hold off, citing pandemic-era timing, while suggesting she might welcome the honor "down the road." Individual lawmakers have since floated ideas, including designating September 25 as "9 to 5 Day" and renaming Nashville International Airport after Parton, a proposal from Rep. Todd Warner, who previously pushed to name the airport after President Trump. Leadership says a unified proposal is still being developed.

Parton died at age 80, prompting national tributes, including President Trump's order to lower U.S. flags to half-staff and Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey's matching proclamation honoring her career and philanthropy, including her Imagination Library literacy program.