Byron Black, a 69-year-old inmate with severe health issues, was executed by lethal injection at Riverbend maximum security prison in Nashville, Tennessee, on Thursday. Black’s execution has attracted international attention. It’s people like his friends who are now focusing attention on the challenges he experienced during his long years on death row, both physically and mentally. He served 35 years in prison as a result. He’d been convicted in the 1988 double homicide of Angela Clay and her two daughters, Latoya and Lakeisha.
Black’s poor health over the following years would include lifelong intellectual disabilities, dementia, brain damage, kidney failure, severe heart failure, and prostate cancer. His lawyers contended that putting a person with Kaiser’s myriad health issues on death row would be ethically questionable at the very least. Despite their warnings about the risks associated with his implanted defibrillator—an essential device to manage his heart condition—the state proceeded with the execution.
In the decades leading up to his execution, Black’s legal team worked valiantly to stave off his death sentence. They pursued every possible legal challenge, claiming his innocence while making clear the dire consequences of his intellectual disability. A recent legislative fix in Tennessee’s code seized on new research and aligned the definition of intellectual disabilities with modern medical understanding. This change came without much help to Black due to prior court decisions.
Health Complications and Legal Battles
The concordance between Black’s racial identity and his health complications are key to understanding his case. As a wheelchair user with a host of other serious medical conditions, his attorneys argued that these would greatly complicate the execution process. With the arrival of the defibrillator came fresh concerns. People worried that it had the potential to create “lengthy, excruciating agony” in the course of a lethal injection.
Kelley Henry, Black’s longtime attorney (25 years) for the state of Tennessee said she was heartbroken over his state and execution.
“Something went horribly, horribly wrong, and I don’t know what it is yet, and all I could do was take notes and watch,” – Kelley Henry
Over 20 years on death row, Henry saw up close the physical and mental deterioration caused by his unjust imprisonment. She recounted the gut wrenching moment Black screamed out in agony during her execution.
“For him to lift his head up several times and say it hurts, I really wasn’t prepared. I could not believe it was happening. It was horrific,” – Kelley Henry
This execution sent shockwaves through the national disability community and raised important questions about the treatment of all individuals with disabilities in the criminal justice system. Critics contend that the execution of those with grave health conditions poses a breach of human rights and ethics.
The Execution Process
This was all done over the objections of Black’s legal team, who had tirelessly argued that the execution by lethal injection would be torturous. His lawyers had long cautioned that his defibrillator might respond poorly to the injection. The Tennessee courts found that Black could not take advantage of the new legislative changes related to intellectual disabilities. Consequently, he will be executed later this month as planned.
The execution began, and once again witnesses noted that Black seemed to have a difficult time with the procedure and indicated distress. His final message, written in his own hand, read as a powerful farewell to those who had stood by him during a tragic journey.
“I love you and I won’t never forget you. All of our relationships have been very special. It was my pleasure in meeting everybody and the way we connected with each other,” – Byron Black (read by Kelley Henry)
The execution team did little to explain their overall approach to addressing Black’s unhealth challenge. They excluded the public from any input on their plans throughout the process.
Aftermath and Reflection
In the aftermath of the execution, preliminary tests indicated that Black’s defibrillator never activated during the execution. This has resulted in increased questioning of the execution process and its effects on inmates with end-of-life health issues.
Henry was a wreck for a long time due to the emotional impact of the subsequent execution. It’s one thing to track how these events impact not just individual victims, but our whole society.
“Every execution takes a piece of your heart,” – Kelley Henry
Henry’s comments capture the mixed emotions associated with capital punishment, especially in cases of people who are severely medically compromised.
Increasingly, the public outcry has begun to hold the penal system accountable for their treatment of the most vulnerable among us. Advocates have been working around the country to reform policies to protect inmates’ humane treatment, regardless of health conditions. Byron Black’s execution has profound implications that extend past his specific case. It certainly raises profound issues about the ethics of capital punishment and the treatment of disabled inmates.