On Thursday, the state of Tennessee will execute Oscar Smith by lethal injection. It's the first execution in years. Here's a look back in time at the state's complex history with lethal injection to understand how we got here: wpln.org/post/timeline-… WPLN News - Nashville Public Radio

Three of our colleagues are being placed on PIPs today and ProPublica management has refused to allow stewards in those meetings. We're not shutting up about this — our colleagues deserve better & we're extremely disappointed in management for denying us this basic union right.

Tennessee has executed Oscar Smith. It's the first execution in years and comes after the discovery of failures in drug testing for lethal injections. More: wpln.org/post/tennessee…

Tennessee executed Oscar Smith at 10:47 a.m., ending its pause on lethal injections. Watch live as family members and media witnesses speak: wpln.org/post/tennessee…

Tennessee executes Oscar Smith, ending pause on lethal injections. wpln.org/post/tennessee… WPLN News - Nashville Public Radio Paige Southwick Pfleger @CathJSweeney TADP Conservatives Concerned #deathpenalty

“Everything about the death penalty is against the sanctity of life. It’s not pro-life,” one protester said. “Especially in the South where that phrase is used a lot … why isn’t this also an issue? Is this pro-life?” wpln.org/post/tennessee… WPLN News - Nashville Public Radio This Is Nashville

Last year, an autistic student was handcuffed and charged with a felony over an alleged threat of mass violence. Now, Paige Southwick Pfleger and Aliyya Swaby report his Chattanooga school has agreed to pay his family $100,000. wpln.org/post/chattanoo… ProPublica

New: Under the settlement, the Chattanooga charter school also agreed to implement training on how to handle threats of mass violence at school, including differentiating between “clearly innocuous statements” and “imminent” violence. propub.li/3Z9vDf4

Kudos to Aliyya Swaby & Paige Southwick Pfleger for winning an Education Writers Association award for stories on Tennessee's crackdown on student threats. "These articles are a masterclass in how to persist when official data and cooperation are scant to nonexistent," judges said. ewa.org/awards/news/20…

The superintendent of an East Tennessee juvenile detention center abruptly announced his retirement. A WPLN News and ProPublica investigation found that Richard Bean was illegally locking kids alone in cells, and a new scandal has forced his resignation. wpln.org/post/the-head-…

New: Richard L. Bean remained in his perch as the superintendent of the juvenile detention center that bears his name despite scandals, investigations and the use of seclusion to punish children. propub.li/4jAYuA3

NEW: How the Head of an Embattled Tennessee Youth Detention Center Held on to Power for Decades propublica.org/article/richar… Paige Southwick Pfleger Mariam Elba w/ WPLN News - Nashville Public Radio

Only one county juvenile detention center in Tennessee is governed by a board of trustees. Through scandals and state write-ups, it kept one man in power for decades. wpln.org/post/how-the-h…

Richard L. Bean’s former secretary, his personal lawyer and even a pallbearer of his wife’s casket have sat on the detention center’s board as voting members. Only the board’s voting members had the power to remove him as superintendent. propublica.org/article/richar… Mariam Elba WPLN News - Nashville Public Radio

Richard L. Bean remained in his perch as the superintendent of the juvenile detention center that bears his name despite scandals, investigations and the use of seclusion to punish children. propublica.org/article/richar… Paige Southwick Pfleger Mariam Elba w/ WPLN News - Nashville Public Radio

Another banger from Paige Southwick Pfleger

Some stories document what wrong — this one figures out how and why it all happened.

“He’s just been allowed to go unchecked,” said state Rep. Sam McKenzie of Knoxville. “It was just a bad situation compounded by a rubber-stamp board that really was trying to protect him, and not protect our children” wpln.org/post/how-the-h…

You’ll see a familiar byline on the next episode of Last Week Tonight ❣️

Byron Black asked Tennessee's governor to commute his death sentence based on his intellectual disability. People on death row gained the right to petition for a disability determination in 2021 but Black's lawyers say he was since denied that chance wpln.org/post/timeline-…