TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Kate Prince on May 6, 2021

The ABA Journal last month profiled Nashville attorney and federal public defender Kelley Henry and her work advocating for those on death row. Henry, based in Nashville, has served as the chief of the Capital Habeas Unit at the Federal Public Defender's office for the Middle District of Tennessee since 2003 and has been co-counsel in more than 30 capital cases during her career. The article details Henry’s representation of Lisa Montgomery, who was executed by the federal government on Jan. 13. Henry had argued that Montgomery was incompetent for execution and Henry even tested positive for COVID-19 while working to defend her client. “I see myself as someone who is defending the Sixth Amendment, the Eighth Amendment, the 14th Amendment, because if you say it’s OK to violate those rights because you just don’t like my guys, then your rights are next,” she said of her job. Henry is a member of the TBA and its Federal Practice and Criminal Justice sections. Read the full article.