A coalition of news organizations is suing Tennessee’s top prisons official and a warden, alleging that state execution protocols unconstitutionally limit the media’s access to the entire process when inmates are put to death.
Attorney says electrocardiogram at Tennessee execution was active after inmate was pronounced dead
An attorney for a recently executed Tennessee inmate says an electrocardiogram showed “sustained cardiac activity” nearly two minutes after Byron Black was pronounced dead. Attorneys for the state say requiring members of the execution team to testify risks exposing their identities, even if their faces are hidden and their voices disguised.
A regional ICE detention center is coming to rural Tennessee
A small town in rural Tennessee will soon be the site of a privately-run Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center.
Tennessee executes Byron Black despite worries about his heart implant
The state of Tennessee executed Byron Black on Tuesday morning. The 69-year-old was convicted of killing his girlfriend and her daughters in 1988. The execution was carried out by lethal injection despite uncertainty about Black’s heart implant.
Medical ethics and a prisoner’s heart implant complicate next execution in Tennessee
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.
Tennessee can execute man despite medical complications, state supreme court rules
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.
Nashville General Hospital won’t disable death row inmate’s implant, contradicting state’s account in court
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.
What to know about Tennessee’s scheduled execution of Byron Black
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.
Court order: Tennessee prisoner’s heart implant must be deprogrammed before his execution
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.
Death row lawyers ask governor for another execution moratorium while courts review protocol
Attorneys for nine death row inmates argue the state’s new lethal injection protocol contains even fewer protections than the plan found deficient in 2022.
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