With the state of Tennessee set to restart executions this month, federal public defender Kelley Henry is even more busy than usual. Her client Oscar Smith is the first man scheduled to be killed at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville. Her team has exhausted its legal options, and Smith is set to be executed on May 22. He will spend 14 days on death watch, instead of the customary three.
The drug that will be used to carry out that execution, pentobarbital, is not without controversy, and the state has not disclosed where or how it obtained its supply. Henry has pressed for transparency, claiming that the state should not be able to hide the identity or identities of whoever supplied the drug. Whatever the outcome, Henry is determined to keep fighting for the rights of "her guys" — a fight she has promised herself to continue as long as she lives.
Guest: Kelley Henry, supervising assistant federal public defender
Host: Demetria Kalodimos
Producer: Steve Haruch
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