The Tennessee Department of Correction tried to keep its new execution protocol for lethal injection secret. But after a week of wide news reporting of the state's refusal to release the document, it changed its mind and provided the document with redactions. The tussle shows how secrecy about lethal injection as a method of execution continues to be a problem.
An independent investigation of the state's secret handling of lethal injection drugs shows it did not follow state protocols for testing the materials. The state should fix this and address the secrecy about lethal injection drugs going forward.
The Tennessean covered the arguments before the Court of Appeals Monday concerning an exemption to the Tennessee Public Records Act passed in 2013 that makes the source of execution drugs confidential. Lawyers for death row inmates sought to have the source revealed to them so they could examine whether the source was safe and legal, and whether it would violate inmate rights to be free of cruel and unusual punishment. Chancellor Claudia Bonnyman ordered the information released to the lawyers under seal. The state is appealing Bonnyman's ruling. An excerpt from reporter Brian Haas' story: The appeals panel Monday seemed skeptical of Hixson's arguments, pressing him on whether the 2013 law applied [...]
The issue of secrecy surrounding the source of execution drugs is heating up in the wake of some botched executions. The Associated Press joined other Missouri newspapers in challenging that state's insistence that its laws allow the corrections department to keep the source of the drug secret. Here's a rundown on the litigation in Missouri. TCOG first wrote about the secrecy of execution drugs in December, eight months after the Tennessee Legislature passed a bill to make the source of drugs confidential, along with the already confidential name of the medical personnel involved in the execution. Since then, the secrecy issue has become national. The Tennessee Legislature in the most [...]
The Tennessean exposes the secrecy of execution drugs in a front-page story in today's Sunday edition. State lawmakers last year passed an exemption to the Tennessee Open Records Act that allows the state to keep confidential the name of its supplier of drugs for lethal injections. With that decision, it joined other states who have marched toward similar confidentiality, driven to that secrecy because drug manufacturers have refused to supply states on moral grounds. Finding less obvious sources meant the states had to agree to keep new suppliers secret. The secrecy of the drug source has been questioned on First Amendment grounds in at least three other states. Defense lawyers challenged [...]
