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.
As Tennessee prisons phase out physical mail, prisoners weigh in
The Tennessee Department of Correction is phasing out physical mail and deploying table-style computers to all people in prison.
After disruption, nonprofits will be able to send books to Tennessee prisoners again
Last year, the Tennessee Department of Correction made it impossible for books-to-prisons nonprofits to mail books to prisoners in Tennessee.
TN Republicans want a new public prison, as its private prison asks for more state dollars
Tennessee’s Department of Correction is asking for nearly $7 million in public funds to go toward the state’s for-profit prisons.
How Tennessee quietly made it harder for prisoners to access books
Due to a 2024 policy change by the state, nonprofits that have sent free books to prisoners for over 50 years can’t serve Tennessee anymore.
Tennessee fines the largest private prison operator millions for understaffing
The state has withheld over $29 million from CoreCivic for violating Tennessee standards for prison operation.
US Justice Department investigating ‘endemic’ violence at Tennessee for-profit prison
Trousdale Turner Correctional Center has the highest homicide rate of any prison in the country and is one of the most understaffed, according to data compiled by the DOJ.
Thousands of women on probation or parole in Tennessee need to seek approval to leave the state for abortion care
About 4 out of 5 women on probation or parole live in a state where abortion is limited. More than 16,000 women are under supervision in Tennessee.
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