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death penalty

Medical ethics and a prisoner’s heart implant complicate next execution in Tennessee

By Catherine Sweeney

August 1, 2025

Listen

Tennessee’s highest court says the state can execute Byron Black without deprogramming a heart implant. It’s a tension that has intensified because of ethical codes in medicine.

Filed Under: Criminal Justice, Health Care, WPLN News Tagged With: Appalachia + Mid-South Newsroom, Byron Black, death penalty, lethal injection, Tennessee Department of Correction

Tennessee can execute man despite medical complications, state supreme court rules

By Marianna Bacallao

July 31, 2025

Tennessee is moving forward with executing a man on death row next week, despite concerns that a heart implant may prolong his death or worsen his pain.

Filed Under: Criminal Justice, Politics, WPLN News Tagged With: American Baptist College, Bill Lee, Byron Black, Davie Tucker, death penalty, lethal injection, Tennessee Department of Correction

Nashville General Hospital won’t disable death row inmate’s implant, contradicting state’s account in court

By Catherine Sweeney

July 30, 2025

Nashville General Hospital says it never agreed to deactivate a death row inmate’s device, raising a new question before the scheduled execution of Byron Black.

Filed Under: Criminal Justice, Health Care, WPLN News Tagged With: Byron Black, death penalty, lethal injection, Tennessee Department of Correction

What to know about Tennessee’s scheduled execution of Byron Black

By Catherine Sweeney

July 25, 2025

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There are several unknowns about Byron Black’s scheduled execution — including about his developmental disability and the ongoing legal fight about his heart defibrillator implant.

Filed Under: Criminal Justice, Health Care, WPLN News Tagged With: Appalachia + Mid-South Newsroom, Byron Black, death penalty, executions, lethal injection, Tennessee Department of Correction

TDOC pushback on execution court order amounts to ‘passive aggression,’ judge says

By Catherine Sweeney

July 22, 2025

It appeared the intense debate was over when a judge ordered the Tennessee Department of Correction to disable a death row inmate’s heart implant before his execution. But now, the department is arguing it can’t comply.

Filed Under: Criminal Justice, Health Care, WPLN News Tagged With: Byron Black, death penalty, lethal injection, lethal injection protocol

Court order: Tennessee prisoner’s heart implant must be deprogrammed before his execution

By Catherine Sweeney

July 19, 2025

A judge sided with Byron Black, the man scheduled for Tennessee’s next execution, and ordered the state to disable his heart implant before he undergoes a lethal injection.

Filed Under: Criminal Justice, Health Care, WPLN News Tagged With: death penalty, executions, lethal injection, Tennessee Department of Correction

A heart implant could make Tennessee’s next execution painful and prolonged. Prison officials argue they don’t have to disable the device.

By Catherine Sweeney

July 17, 2025

Tennessee’s next execution is scheduled for Aug. 5, and this time, there are even stronger fears about the death becoming torturous.

Filed Under: Criminal Justice, WPLN News Tagged With: Byron Black, death penalty, lethal injection

Attorneys want to delay Tennessee’s next execution, citing mental competency concerns

By Catherine Sweeney

June 24, 2025

Tennessee is scheduled to execute Byron Black in August. His attorneys argue his death should be delayed and his sentence reconsidered, citing his intellectual disability, progressive dementia and brain damage.

Filed Under: Criminal Justice, WPLN News Tagged With: Byron Black, death penalty, lethal injection, Oscar Franklin Smith, Tennessee Supreme Court

Man formerly on death row can’t serve 2 life terms at the same time, Tennessee Supreme Court rules

By Adrian Sainz, AP

June 17, 2025

The Tennessee Supreme Court has ruled that a Memphis judge did not have the authority to give a man formerly on death row concurrent sentences of life in prison.

Filed Under: Criminal Justice, WPLN News Tagged With: death penalty, disabilities, pervis payne, Tennessee Supreme Court

Tennessee scheduled to execute at least two more death row inmates this year

By Catherine Sweeney

May 24, 2025

Tennessee has resumed executions after years of COVID-19 delays and administrative pauses, and three more are scheduled this year.

Filed Under: Criminal Justice, Politics, WPLN News Tagged With: Byron Black, death penalty, lethal injection

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