Tennessee has resumed executions after years of COVID-19 delays and administrative pauses, and three more are scheduled this year.
Tennessee executes Oscar Smith, ending pause on lethal injections
The state of Tennessee executed Oscar Franklin Smith Thursday morning. It was the first lethal injection since 2019, and comes on the heels of a third-party investigation into the state’s protocol that found failures in testing the drugs used during executions.
Gov. Lee denies reprieve, ensuring executions by lethal injection amid legal challenge
Tennessee will execute Oscar Franklin Smith this week while a lawsuit challenging the state’s new lethal injection protocol makes its way through the court system.
Timeline: Tennessee is planning its first lethal injection in years. How did the state get here?
On Thursday, Tennessee plans to carry out its first execution since 2019 by means of lethal injection. It’s the fourth scheduled execution date since 2020 for Oscar Smith, who was convicted of killing his estranged wife Judith Smith and her two sons Jason Burnett and Chad Burnett in 1989.
Families of murder victims ask governor to hold off on Tennessee’s executions
Tennessee is scheduled to resume executions this month, and some victims’ rights advocates are arguing there are better ways to spend state money — and asking Gov. Bill Lee for a reprieve.
VUMC starts forewarned hiring freeze and layoffs triggered by federal funding cuts
Cutbacks at Vanderbilt University Medical Center have started. “In response to reductions in federal funding, VUMC is strategically reducing operating costs,” reads a statement. “Hiring for most research and administrative positions has been paused and some positions have been eliminated.”
‘We’ll be a partner’ versus ‘we’ll see you in court’ — officials far apart on federal funding disruptions
Tennessee has suddenly lost hundreds of millions of dollars as the federal government cancels promised funding, and recent reactions from two prominent elected officials differ sharply.
More whiplash for Tennessee’s Title X family planning funding after Trump freezes and reinstatements
Tennessee’s Title X funding has been on a rollercoaster for years, and the drama is continuing into President Donald Trump’s second term.
Metro Nashville joins lawsuit against federal government again — this time over sudden public health cuts
Metro Nashville and a handful of other local governments are suing the U.S. Health and Human Services Department. The agency cut $11 billion in local public health funding — without warning — earlier this year.
RFK stumps for overdose prevention in Nashville as Tennessee’s death rate declines
Before his appointment as HHS secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. cast doubt on drugs like methadone, which help opioid use disorder patients stave off withdrawal and cravings. He touted them at the RX and Illicit Drug Summit in Nashville.
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