by Vanguard Staff
NASHVILLE, TN — Byron Black, a 69-year-old man on Tennessee’s death row, has formally petitioned Governor Bill Lee to commute his death sentence to life without the possibility of parole. Citing his well-documented intellectual disability, multiple severe health conditions, and a history of systemic failures, Black’s legal team argues that his execution would be both unconstitutional and morally indefensible.
According to the clemency application filed this week, Black would be the first person with a diagnosed intellectual disability to be executed in Tennessee in the modern era, despite a 2021 state law designed specifically to prevent such executions. Notably, the State of Tennessee acknowledged in 2022 that Black is intellectually disabled, and even its expert who once disputed that conclusion has since reversed course.
Black’s legal team emphasized that his execution would violate both U.S. and Tennessee constitutional protections. In 2002, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Atkins v. Virginia that executing individuals with intellectual disabilities is unconstitutional. Tennessee codified protections for such individuals with bipartisan support in 2021. Yet because Black sought relief too early—before those standards were updated—his case was dismissed on procedural grounds, despite agreement from all current experts, including the State’s own, that he is intellectually disabled.
“Mr. Black finds himself in a constitutional catch-22,” the clemency petition states. “He did everything right. And because he did, he stands to be executed because the courts cannot find a home for his claim.”
Black’s attorneys argue that clemency is the only remaining legal option. “There is no doubt that Byron Black is a person with intellectual disability, but the courts keep finding procedural reasons to deny him relief,” said Kelley Henry, Black’s federal public defender. “Even the Attorney General acknowledges that, but for Byron’s own diligence decades ago, he would be entitled to a hearing under prevailing medical and legal standards now.”
The evidence of Black’s intellectual disability includes consistent IQ scores in the range of 52 to 70, with testing across decades showing remarkable stability. In addition, he has lifelong deficits in practical, conceptual, and social functioning. He was held back in school, never lived independently, could not manage money, and relied heavily on family for daily functioning. Childhood friends and teachers described him as unable to grasp simple games and consistently behind his peers in comprehension and behavior. Multiple experts, including the State’s current psychologist, have affirmed the diagnosis of intellectual disability.
Further complicating the case is Black’s serious medical condition, including dementia, brain damage, kidney failure, congestive heart failure, and prostate cancer. He is wheelchair-bound, requires dialysis, has undergone multiple surgeries, and is unable to care for himself without assistance. The petition describes his deteriorating state in detail, noting that he uses a walker in his cell, requires a medical toilet seat, and must be pushed in his wheelchair by others to attend legal visits.
Adding to the urgency is the presence of a cardiac device—an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD)—that automatically shocks his heart in case of arrhythmia. Experts warn that this device could cause Black to be repeatedly and painfully shocked during the execution process, prolonging his death and potentially leaving officials unable to determine whether he has died, as the ICD continues to restart his heart.
The Tennessee Department of Correction has not agreed to deactivate the ICD prior to execution, prompting a separate legal motion in Davidson County Chancery Court. A hearing on that motion is scheduled for July 14. If the execution proceeds on August 5 as scheduled, Black’s legal team argues, the state risks inflicting extreme pain and carrying out a “grotesque spectacle.”
Black has been incarcerated for 35 years. During that time, he has maintained an exemplary disciplinary record and is known among prison staff as courteous and respectful. “He is the most courteous man on death row,” according to prison staff evaluations included in the clemency application. Inmates assist him with everyday tasks, including heating food and cleaning his cell.
The clemency petition also paints a vivid picture of Black’s family life and Tennessee roots. Born at Nashville General Hospital and raised in segregated schools, Black has deep familial ties to the state. His sisters have stood by him throughout his incarceration, maintaining daily contact and praying for his life to be spared. The Black family traces its Tennessee lineage back more than a century to ancestors who endured slavery in Maury County. The petition warns that executing Byron Black would devastate his family, who have already endured decades of separation.
“Mr. Black is a kindhearted man that loves everyone he meets,” the application concludes. “The fact that the courts have slammed their doors shut to his righteous intellectual disability claim is not only unconstitutional, it is inhumane.”
Governor Lee has not commented on the petition. If the execution proceeds as scheduled on August 5, it would mark a grave milestone in Tennessee’s capital punishment history and challenge the very legal and moral safeguards that the state has put in place to prevent the execution of intellectually disabled individuals.
