tennessee death row inmate Edward Jerome Harbison will not be executed Jan. 9 as scheduled...

tennessee death row inmate Edward Jerome Harbison will not be executed Jan. 9 as scheduled, according to an order issued this morning by the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
The order ensures Harbison will not be put to death before the U.S. Supreme Court rules on a lethal injection case out of Kentucky this spring.
Although the appellate court order gives Harbison a reprieve at least until the spring, it's unclear if the cases of 2 other death row inmates will be temporarily halted as well. The execution of Pervis Payne currently is set for Dec. 12, and Paul Dennis Reid is scheduled to die Jan. 3.
Tennessee Supreme Court Justice William C. Koch Jr. and several state lawmakers have voiced their belief that these inmates should instead be put to death by electrocution while the constitutionality of lethal injection is debated in federal courts.