Entries tagged with “Secrecy”

Conditions on Death Row

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Representation

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Dec 18, 2024

4th Circuit Affirms Dismissal of Legal Challenge to South Carolina’s Restriction on Media Access to Prisoners

On December 13, 2024, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit affirmed the August, 2024 dis­missal of a law­suit that sought to chal­lenge, on First Amendment grounds, a South Carolina Department of Corrections’ (SCDC) pol­i­cy that pro­hibits the pub­li­ca­tion of inter­views between pris­on­ers and the media or mem­bers of the pub­lic. In its deci­sion, the Fourth Circuit cit­ed to Houchins v. KQED, a 1978 Supreme Court rul­ing which held that the U.S. Constitution does…

Executions

Lethal Injection

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Jul 02, 2024

Federal Execution-Drug Supplier Says It Will No Longer Produce Pentobarbital for Executions

Connecticut-based com­pa­ny Absolute Standards, which was iden­ti­fied as the source of lethal injec­tion drugs used in 13 fed­er­al exe­cu­tions in 2020 and 2021, has said it will no longer pro­duce the drug used in exe­cu­tions — pen­to­bar­bi­tal. In a let­ter to two Connecticut law­mak­ers, John Criscio, pres­i­dent of Absolute Standards, said the com­pa­ny ceased pro­duc­ing pen­to­bar­bi­tal in December 2020, and has ​“no inten­tion to resume any pro­duc­tion or sale of pen­to­bar­bi­tal.” Mr. Criscio’s let­ter explains that…

Policy Issues

Secrecy

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Botched Executions

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May 03, 2023

RESOURCES: Newspaper Series Explores Arizona’s Recent Death Penalty History

In a detailed five-part series titled ​“Poorly exe­cut­ed: How Arizona has failed at car­ry­ing out the death penal­ty,” the Arizona Mirror explores the last 16 years of Arizona’s use of cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment. The series focus­es on con­tro­ver­sies sur­round­ing the exe­cu­tions them­selves, includ­ing changes to the drug pro­to­col, the use of inex­pe­ri­enced or unqual­i­fied per­son­nel, and the state secre­cy sur­round­ing the process. It also looks into oth­er major issues in cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment, such as…

Policy Issues

Secrecy

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Recent Legislative Activity

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Lethal Injection

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Apr 28, 2023

South Carolina Advances Legislation to Keep Execution Details Secret

Bills to hide the iden­ti­ties of lethal-injec­tion drug sup­pli­ers and exe­cu­tion team mem­bers from the pub­lic have passed both cham­bers of the South Carolina leg­is­la­ture. The bills face a rec­on­cil­i­a­tion process before one can move to the governor’s desk for sig­na­ture. Proponents of the law say it is nec­es­sary because reveal­ing such infor­ma­tion might make exe­cu­tions dif­fi­cult or impos­si­ble. South Carolina has not car­ried out an exe­cu­tion in 12 years. Opponents say the pub­lic has the right to know…

Facts & Research

New Voices

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Feb 08, 2023

NEW VOICES: Tennessee Business Leader Underscores Problems with the Death Penalty

“Speaking as a busi­ness leader, a proud, life­time Tennessean and a human being, it’s time for the state to abol­ish cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment,” wrote Mac Bartine, CEO of Knoxville-based tech com­pa­ny Smartria, in an op-ed for Knox News. Bartine described the find­ings of the 2022 inde­pen­dent inves­ti­ga­tion into Tennessee’s exe­cu­tion prac­tices, which found that the state repeat­ed­ly failed to adhere to its own pro­to­col. ​“The report proved what we have known for years – that the death penalty has…

Executions

Upcoming Executions

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Lethal Injection

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Jan 05, 2023

Texas Appeals Court Denies Death-Row Prisoners Stays of Execution, Judicial Review of State’s Use of Expired Drugs in Upcoming Executions

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals (TCCA) has grant­ed an appli­ca­tion by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton to block a state tri­al court from review­ing a civ­il law­suit filed by three death-row pris­on­ers who chal­lenged the state’s intent to exe­cute them using lethal-injec­tion drugs they claimed were ​“unlaw­ful­ly obtained…

Executions

Lethal Injection

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Jan 04, 2023

Report: Tennessee Repeatedly Violated Execution Protocol Since 2018

An inde­pen­dent inves­ti­ga­tion into Tennessee​’s exe­cu­tion prac­tices has found that the state repeat­ed­ly failed to fol­low its own pro­to­cols in per­form­ing sev­en exe­cu­tions and prepar­ing for an eighth between 2018 and 2022. Governor Bill Lee (pic­tured) com­mis­sioned the inves­ti­ga­tion in May 2022, short­ly after he called off the exe­cu­tion of Oscar Smith “[d]ue to an over­sight in prepa­ra­tion for lethal injec­tion.” The report, which was pub­licly released on December…

Executions

Botched Executions

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Lethal Injection

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Oct 19, 2022

Alan Miller Asks Federal Court to Bar Alabama from Second Attempt to Execute Him By Lethal Injection

Alan Eugene Miller has asked fed­er­al courts to bar Alabama from set­ting a sec­ond exe­cu­tion date days after the Alabama Attorney General’s office filed a motion in the state’s Supreme Court to expe­dite a new exe­cu­tion war­rant. The state attempt­ed to exe­cute Miller on September 22, 2022, but called off the exe­cu­tion after fail­ing to estab­lish an intra­venous (IV)…

Executions

Botched Executions

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Lethal Injection

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Sep 26, 2022

Federal Court Orders Alabama to Preserve Evidence of Botched Attempted Execution of Alan Miller

A fed­er­al dis­trict court has ordered Alabama state offi­cials to pre­serve evi­dence relat­ed to the state’s failed attempt to exe­cute death-row pris­on­er Alan Miller on September 22, 2022. The botched exe­cu­tion attempt, Alabama’s third since 2018, came after a divid­ed U.S. Supreme Court issued an after-hours exe­cu­tion-night order set­ting aside with­out opin­ion an injunc­tion that had barred the state from exe­cut­ing Miller ​“by any method oth­er than nitro­gen hypox­ia.” Prison officials then…

Policy Issues

Arbitrariness

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Innocence

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Official Misconduct

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Race

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Executions Overview

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Aug 24, 2022

New DPIC Podcast: Former Governor Brad Henry and Former U.S. Magistrate Judge Andy Lester, co-Chairs of the Oklahoma Death Penalty Review Commission, Call for Halt to Executions

In the August 2022 Discussions With DPIC pod­cast, for­mer Oklahoma Governor Brad Henry and for­mer U.S. Magistrate Judge Andy Lester (pic­tured), two of the co-chairs of the bipar­ti­san Oklahoma Death Penalty Review Commission, call on state offi­cials not to rush for­ward with the state’s planned exe­cu­tion of 25 pris­on­ers. Speaking with DPIC exec­u­tive direc­tor Robert Dunham, Governor Henry, a Democrat, and Judge Lester, a Republican, discuss the…

Executions

Botched Executions

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Lethal Injection

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Jul 29, 2022

Alabama Execution of Joe Nathan James Marred by Failures to Set IV Line, Embarrassing Dress-Code Controversy, and Disrespect of Victim’s Family

Alabama put Joe Nathan James, Jr. to death on July 28, 2022 against the wish­es of his victim’s fam­i­ly in an exe­cu­tion marred by an hours-long fail­ure to set a lethal-injec­tion intra­venous line and an embar­rass­ing dress-code con­tro­ver­sy in which a cor­rec­tions offi­cial told a female reporter she would not be able to wit­ness the exe­cu­tion because her skirt was too short and she was wear­ing open-toed shoes and sub­ject­ed anoth­er female reporter to a clothing…

Executions

Executions Overview

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Lethal Injection

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Jun 23, 2022

Tennessee Executions Could Be on Hold for Years Following Independent Investigation, Anticipated Court Challenges

Tennessee exe­cu­tions could be on hold for years, as the state con­ducts an inde­pen­dent inves­ti­ga­tion into wide­spread non-com­pli­ance with its exe­cu­tion pro­to­col and lit­i­gates the con­sti­tu­tion­al­i­ty of revi­sions expect­ed to be made to its exe­cu­tion pro­ce­dures. The antic­i­pat­ed delay, first report­ed by the Associated Press June 13, 2022, is a like­ly by-prod­uct of a deci­sion by Governor Bill Lee to can­cel all exe­cu­tions sched­uled in the state for the remainder of…

Policy Issues

Secrecy

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Jun 02, 2022

Arizona Violated Court Order to Allow Media to Witness Execution, Lawyer for Newspapers Says

Arizona vio­lat­ed state law, state cor­rec­tions poli­cies, and a court order by deny­ing a reporter from the state’s largest dai­ly cir­cu­la­tion news­pa­per access to view the May 11 exe­cu­tion of Clarence Dixon and by block­ing wit­ness­es’ views of a por­tion of the exe­cu­tion process, a lawyer for the newspaper has…

Executions

Lethal Injection

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May 17, 2022

Fallout From Aborted Tennessee Execution: Prosecutors Misrepresented Facts in Federal Lawsuit, 2 Members of Execution Team Knew Drugs Had Not Been Tested

The fall­out fol­low­ing Tennessee​’s abort­ed attempt to exe­cute Oscar Smith on April 21, 2022 con­tin­ues to grow, as state pros­e­cu­tors dis­closed that their plead­ings had mis­rep­re­sent­ed facts in a fed­er­al lethal injec­tion law­suit and pub­lic records revealed that at least two mem­bers of the exe­cu­tion team knew the day before Smith was to be exe­cut­ed that the drugs pur­chased to put Smith to death had not been properly…

Policy Issues

Secrecy

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Upcoming Executions

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May 03, 2022

Tennessee Governor Halts Executions Scheduled for 2022 to Conduct Review of Execution Protocol ​‘Oversight’

Tennessee Governor Bill Lee (pic­tured) has paused all exe­cu­tions sched­uled for 2022 and called for an ​“inde­pen­dent review” of the state’s exe­cu­tion pro­to­col to address a ​“tech­ni­cal over­sight” that led him to halt Oscar Franklin Smith​’s exe­cu­tion less than a half-hour before it was sched­uled to be car­ried out on April 21,…

Facts & Research

Recent Legislative Activity

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Lethal Injection

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Mar 30, 2022

Idaho Expands Execution Secrecy After Senate Committee Reconsiders Failed Vote

Idaho Governor Brad Little on March 25, 2022, signed into law an exe­cu­tion secre­cy bill that con­ceals from the pub­lic and the courts infor­ma­tion on the pro­duc­ers and sup­pli­ers of drugs used in exe­cu­tions in the…

Facts & Research

Recent Legislative Activity

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Lethal Injection

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Mar 11, 2022

Execution Secrecy Bill Passes in Florida, Fails in Idaho

Bills to increase secre­cy in the con­duct of exe­cu­tions have met dif­fer­ent fates in Florida and Idaho. Florida leg­is­la­tors on March 7, 2022 gave final leg­isla­tive approval to a bill that would con­ceal the iden­ti­ty of exe­cu­tion par­tic­i­pants, includ­ing sup­pli­ers of exe­cu­tion drugs. Meanwhile, a sim­i­lar mea­sure in Idaho passed the House of Representatives but failed on a tie vote in a Senate com­mit­tee on March…

Executions

Lethal Injection

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Feb 11, 2022

Nevada Execution Personnel Back Out of Participation After Judge Inquires About Credentials

At least three Nevada exe­cu­tion per­son­nel backed out of par­tic­i­pat­ing in Zane Floyd​’s (pic­tured, right) exe­cu­tion after a U.S. dis­trict judge asked about their edu­ca­tion and train­ing. The per­son­nel, includ­ing a doc­tor and two emer­gency med­ical tech­ni­cians, declined to par­tic­i­pate after U.S. District Judge Richard Boulware II asked the state to pro­vide him with their cre­den­tial infor­ma­tion. Another doc­tor was exclud­ed by the Nevada Department of Corrections…

Executions

Lethal Injection

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Feb 10, 2022

Oklahoma is Paying Execution Doctor $15,000 Plus Training Fees for Each Execution

Oklahoma is pay­ing $15,000 per exe­cu­tion, plus $1,000 for each day of train­ing, to an unnamed doc­tor to par­tic­i­pate in the process of putting state pris­on­ers to death. Under the agree­ment, the doc­tor stood to receive an esti­mat­ed $130,000 over the course of the 19-week-peri­od between October 28, 2021 and March 10, 2022 in which the state had sched­uled the exe­cu­tions of seven…

Executions

Lethal Injection

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Jan 21, 2022

Investigative Report: Idaho Records Reveal State’s Efforts to Conceal Ghost Purchase of Execution Drugs and Out-of-State Cash Payment to Pharmacy With Dubious Regulatory History

Idaho prison offi­cials engaged in cloak and dag­ger prac­tices, includ­ing twice send­ing state employ­ees across state lines to make cash pur­chas­es of con­trolled sub­stances intend­ed for exe­cu­tions, active­ly con­ceal­ing the intend­ed use of the drugs, manip­u­lat­ing state records to cov­er up their activ­i­ties, and act­ing in bad faith to stonewall pub­lic records requests for exe­cu­tion-relat­ed infor­ma­tion, a joint inves­tiga­tive report by the Idaho Statesman and the Idaho…

Executions

Lethal Injection

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Federal Death Penalty

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Dec 21, 2021

House Committee Asks Justice Department Its Plans on Resuming Executions, Purchasing Execution Drugs

The House Committee on Oversight and Reform has sent a let­ter to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland seek­ing infor­ma­tion on the Department of Justice’s death penal­ty prac­tices and poli­cies, includ­ing whether DOJ plans to resume fed­er­al exe­cu­tions and to obtain new sup­plies of the drug pen­to­bar­bi­tal to car­ry out additional…

Executions

Methods of Execution

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Dec 08, 2021

South Carolina Execution Practices are Shrouded in Secrecy

As South Carolina pre­pares pro­ce­dures for car­ry­ing out exe­cu­tions via fir­ing squad, an inves­ti­ga­tion by Columbia’s dai­ly news­pa­per, The State, reports that impor­tant infor­ma­tion about the exe­cu­tion process and the sources of mate­ri­als to be used in exe­cu­tions is being hid­den from the…

Policy Issues

Human Rights

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International

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Nov 15, 2021

Death-Row Prisoners in Japan Sue Over Same-Day Notice of Executions

Two Japanese death-row pris­on­ers have filed a law­suit alleg­ing that the country’s long-crit­i­cized prac­tice of noti­fy­ing pris­on­ers of their exe­cu­tion the same day they are to be put to death is ​“inhu­mane” and vio­lates the nation’s…

Executions

Upcoming Executions

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Lethal Injection

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Oct 18, 2021

Federal Appeals Court Reinstates Oklahoma Death-Row Prisoners to Lawsuit in Decision That May Require State to Vacate Execution Dates

In a deci­sion with poten­tial to vacate a num­ber of Oklahoma exe­cu­tion dates, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit has held that a low­er fed­er­al court abused its dis­cre­tion in dis­miss­ing six death-row pris­on­ers from a law­suit chal­leng­ing the state’s execution…

Policy Issues

Arbitrariness

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Lethal Injection

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Aug 25, 2021

NEW SCHOLARSHIP: Death is Indeed Different in U.S. Administrative Law — Condemned Prisoners Receive FEWER Procedural Protections

In the 1970s, the United States Supreme Court famous­ly declared that ​“death is dif­fer­ent” from all oth­er pun­ish­ments and, as such, required the pro­vi­sion of height­ened pro­ce­dur­al safe­guards to ensure that its appli­ca­tion was not cru­el or unusu­al. But in a new arti­cle, Death Penalty Exceptionalism and Administrative Law, University of Richmond law pro­fes­sor and cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment schol­ar Corinna B. Lain (pic­tured) argues that in the context of…

Policy Issues

Secrecy

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Lethal Injection

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Jul 30, 2021

Nevada Press Association Sues State for Full Access to Witness Executions

The Nevada Press Association has filed a fed­er­al law­suit against Nevada state offi­cials and the Nevada Department of Corrections chal­leng­ing lim­i­ta­tions the state’s exe­cu­tion pro­to­col places on the media’s abil­i­ty to wit­ness and report on…

Executions

May 24, 2021

Citing ​‘Inexperience’ and ​‘Miscommunication,’ Texas Conducts Execution Without Media Witnesses

In a fail­ure of trans­paren­cy one leg­isla­tive leader described as ​“unfath­omable,” the State of Texas put Quintin Jones (pic­tured) to death on May 19, 2021 with­out any media wit­ness­es present to observe the exe­cu­tion. It was the first time in the 571 exe­cu­tions con­duct­ed by Texas since the U.S. Supreme Court upheld its death penal­ty statute in 1976 that no media witnesses were…

Policy Issues

Secrecy

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Lethal Injection

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Mar 04, 2021

Evenly Split Indiana Supreme Court Affirms Ruling Requiring Release of Execution-Drug Records

An even­ly divid­ed Indiana Supreme Court has affirmed a tri­al court rul­ing that requires the Indiana Department of Correction (IDOC) to release records relat­ed to the lethal injec­tion drugs Indiana has used in car­ry­ing out exe­cu­tions, includ­ing the iden­ti­ties of the drug sup­pli­ers. The doc­u­ments were the sub­ject of a pub­lic records suit filed by Washington, D.C. lawyer A. Katherine Toomey under the Indiana Access to Public Records Act…

Policy Issues

Intellectual Disability

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Representation

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Lethal Injection

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Mar 01, 2021

Capital Case Roundup — Death Penalty Court Decisions the Week of February 22, 2021

NEWS (2/​25/​21) — Alabama: The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit has denied habeas relief for Alabama death-row pris­on­er Charles Clark, who the tri­al court had sen­tenced to death based upon a non-unan­i­mous jury sen­tenc­ing vote. Clark had argued that the tri­al court improp­er­ly ordered that he be shack­led dur­ing the tri­al, with­out an ade­quate jus­ti­fi­ca­tion and with­out plac­ing the rea­sons for shack­ling him on the record. His trial…

Executions

Lethal Injection

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Federal Death Penalty

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Feb 26, 2021

Federal Bureau of Prisons Sanitized Execution Reports, Omitting Disturbing Details Observed by Media Witnesses

Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) offi­cials repeat­ed­ly mis­rep­re­sent­ed accounts of the exe­cu­tions they car­ried out in 2020 and 2021, pro­vid­ing san­i­tized descrip­tions of the exe­cu­tions that omit­ted all ref­er­ences to dra­mat­ic body move­ments and signs of dis­tress observed by media wit­ness­es, accord­ing to an Associated Press report. The sworn accounts by exe­cu­tion­ers, which fed­er­al pros­e­cu­tors pro­vid­ed to an expert wit­ness and to a fed­er­al dis­trict court judge to…

State & Federal Info

Federal Death Penalty

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Feb 01, 2021

Under Court Order Requiring Protective Measures, Federal Bureau of Prisons Takes No Action After Media Witnesses to Executions Contract COVID-19

Despite being under fed­er­al court order to under­take pro­tec­tive mea­sures against the spread of COVID-19, the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) took no action after being alert­ed that two reporters who had been media wit­ness­es to the fed­er­al exe­cu­tions at the Federal Correctional Complex at Terre Haute, Indiana in January 2021 had contracted…

Policy Issues

Secrecy

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Lethal Injection

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Federal Death Penalty

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Jan 08, 2021

ProPublica Investigation Reveals Irregularities in Federal Executions

The fed­er­al government’s his­tor­i­cal­ly aber­rant exe­cu­tion spree has been fraught with irreg­u­lar­i­ties and ​“has tram­pled over an array of bar­ri­ers, both legal and prac­ti­cal,” accord­ing to an inves­tiga­tive report by the non-prof­it news organization,…

Policy Issues

Secrecy

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Lethal Injection

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Dec 02, 2020

Citing State’s Lack of Execution Drugs, South Carolina Supreme Court Stays Richard Moore’s Execution

Saying that the state lacked the abil­i­ty to car­ry out a lethal injec­tion, the South Carolina Supreme Court has stayed the sched­uled December 4, 2020 exe­cu­tion of Richard Moore (pic­tured). With no state exe­cu­tions sched­uled for the remain­der of the year, the stay means that states will car­ry out few­er exe­cu­tions in 2020 than in any year since…

Policy Issues

Costs

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Federal Death Penalty

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Aug 24, 2020

ACLU Lawsuit Seeks Information on Cost and Public Health Risks of Federal Executions

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and American Civil Liberties Foundation have filed a law­suit against the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) seek­ing a court order requir­ing the BOP to dis­close how much the fed­er­al government’s resump­tion of fed­er­al exe­cu­tions is cost­ing tax­pay­ers and what steps the gov­ern­ment has under­tak­en to assess and address the COVID-19 pub­lic health risks cre­at­ed by the exe­cu­tions. ​“As the nation faces both dire pub­lic health and economic crises,”…

Facts & Research

Recent Legislative Activity

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Aug 18, 2020

Nebraska Legislature Passes, Governor Vetoes Execution Transparency Bill

Nebraska Governor Pete Ricketts has vetoed a bill that would have increased trans­paren­cy in the state’s exe­cu­tion process. LB 238, which passed the state’s uni­cam­er­al leg­is­la­ture on August 13, 2020 by a vote of 27 – 10 with 12 mem­bers present but not vot­ing, would have allowed wit­ness­es to see the exe­cu­tion from the moment the pris­on­er enters the death cham­ber until the pris­on­er is declared dead or the execution is…

Policy Issues

Arbitrariness

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Intellectual Disability

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Sentencing Alternatives

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Lethal Injection

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Jun 13, 2020

Capital Case Roundup — Death Penalty Court Decisions the Week of June 8, 2020

NEWS (6/​11/​20) — Florida: The Florida Supreme Court applied new cas­es that retroac­tive­ly changed the law regard­ing claims of intel­lec­tu­al dis­abil­i­ty and the uncon­sti­tu­tion­al­i­ty of death sen­tences imposed after non-unan­i­mous jury votes for death to uphold the death sen­tences imposed on Alphonso Cave and Gary…

Executions

Lethal Injection

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Jun 04, 2020

Arkansas Federal Court Rejects Death-Row Prisoners’ Challenge to State’s Use of Midazolam in Executions

U.S. District Judge Kristine Baker on June 1, 2020 denied a chal­lenge brought by Arkansas death-row pris­on­ers to the use of the con­tro­ver­sial drug mida­zo­lam in car­ry­ing out exe­cu­tions. The rul­ing fol­lowed a two-week hear­ing on the issue held in May 2019. Lawyers for the pris­on­ers had argued that mida­zo­lam does not ade­quate­ly anes­thetize a pris­on­er dur­ing an exe­cu­tion before the sec­ond and third drugs, a par­a­lyt­ic drug and a drug that stops the heart, are admin­is­tered. An…

Policy Issues

Secrecy

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Lethal Injection

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May 20, 2020

Nebraska Supreme Court Orders Release of Lethal-Injection Drug Records

In a major vic­to­ry for media out­lets and pris­on­er advo­cates, the Nebraska Supreme Court has ordered the state’s Department of Correctional Services (DCS) to release pub­lic records relat­ed to the pro­cure­ment of drugs used in the 2018 exe­cu­tion of Carey Dean Moore (pic­tured). The court reject­ed the state’s argu­ment that drug sup­pli­ers and man­u­fac­tur­ers are mem­bers of the exe­cu­tion team whose iden­ti­ties may be shield­ed from dis­clo­sure but per­mit­ted DCS to redact…

Executions

Lethal Injection

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Mar 09, 2020

Media and Legal Organizations Urge Idaho Supreme Court to Require Execution Transparency

Saying that states have ​“no com­pelling need” to keep exe­cu­tion infor­ma­tion secret, the American Bar Association (ABA) has asked the Idaho Supreme Court to require the state to dis­close numer­ous exe­cu­tion-relat­ed doc­u­ments under Idaho’s free­dom of infor­ma­tion law. On February 28, 2020, the ABA and a coali­tion of Idaho media orga­ni­za­tions led by the Idaho Press Club filed ami­cus curi­ae briefs in Cover v. Idaho Board of Correction in sup­port of an Idaho…

Facts & Research

Recent Legislative Activity

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Mar 08, 2020

Legislative Roundup — Recent Legislative Activity as of March 7

Washington — A bill that would for­mal­ly remove Washington’s judi­cial­ly abol­ished death penal­ty from the state’s statute books has failed. SB 5339, which passed the state sen­ate on January 31 and was approved by the House Committee on Public Safety on February 27, did not come up for a vote on the floor of the state House of Representatives by the March 7 dead­line for con­sid­er­a­tion dur­ing the 2020 leg­isla­tive ses­sion. The fail­ure has no effect on the judi­cial abo­li­tion of the…

Executions

Lethal Injection

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State by State

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Mar 02, 2020

Oklahoma Prisoners Challenge New Execution Protocol in Federal Court

Less than two weeks after Oklahoma offi­cials announced that the state would return to the same con­tro­ver­sial three-drug exe­cu­tion pro­to­col impli­cat­ed in a series of botched exe­cu­tions in 2014 and 2015, the state’s death-row pris­on­ers have asked a fed­er­al court to reac­ti­vate their law­suit chal­leng­ing the state’s exe­cu­tion process. The February 27, 2020 fil­ing in the United States District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma called the new pro­to­col ​“incom­plete” and said…

Policy Issues

Secrecy

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Recent Legislative Activity

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Lethal Injection

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Feb 20, 2020

Nebraska Bill to Make Executions More Transparent Advances in Legislature

Nebraska​’s uni­cam­er­al leg­is­la­ture vot­ed on February 13, 2020 to advance a bill that would increase trans­paren­cy in the state’s exe­cu­tion process. LB 238, which would allow wit­ness­es to see the exe­cu­tion from the moment the pris­on­er enters the death cham­ber until the pris­on­er is declared dead or the exe­cu­tion is halt­ed, passed an ini­tial con­sid­er­a­tion by a 33 – 7 vote. It must pass a sec­ond vote in order to be sub­mit­ted to the…

Policy Issues

Secrecy

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Executions Overview

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Lethal Injection

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Oct 21, 2019

In Response to Court Order, Alabama Releases Heavily Redacted Execution Protocol

Under court order, Alabama has released for the first time a copy of the state’s pre­vi­ous­ly con­fi­den­tial exe­cu­tion pro­to­col. The 17-page doc­u­ment — filed on October 16, 2019 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama fed­er­al court —pur­ports to detail ​“the respon­si­bil­i­ties and pro­ce­dures for the recep­tion of a con­demned inmate, for con­fine­ment, and for exe­cu­tion and day of exe­cu­tion prepa­ra­tion” as of April…

Policy Issues

Secrecy

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Lethal Injection

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Sep 24, 2019

Lawsuits in Arizona and Virginia Highlight Media Efforts to Witness Executions in Their Entirety

Federal law­suits filed by coali­tions of media orga­ni­za­tions in two states high­light recent media efforts to vin­di­cate the public’s right to wit­ness exe­cu­tions in their entire­ty. On September 17, 2019, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled in a case brought by a coali­tion of Arizona media orga­ni­za­tions that the First Amendment right to wit­ness an exe­cu­tion encom­pass­es the right to hear the exe­cu­tion in its entire­ty. On the heels of that ruling,…

Executions

Lethal Injection

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Aug 01, 2019

Ohio Governor Says State Cannot Obtain Lethal-Injection Drugs, Reschedules Upcoming Execution

Ohio can­not obtain drugs to car­ry out exe­cu­tions with­out putting pub­lic health at risk, Governor Mike DeWine (pic­tured) announced on July 31, 2019. DeWine told reporters that phar­ma­ceu­ti­cal man­u­fac­tur­ers are unwill­ing to sell the state drugs for exe­cu­tions and have threat­ened to stop sell­ing med­i­cines to any state agency if they sus­pect the drugs might be divert­ed from ther­a­peu­tic use to use in exe­cu­tions. A sales embar­go could mean that the state would not be able to obtain medicines for…

Facts & Research

United States Supreme Court

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Lethal Injection

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Jun 25, 2019

Supreme Court Orders Alabama to Unseal Execution Documents

The U.S. Supreme Court has ordered the unseal­ing of court doc­u­ments relat­ed to Alabama​’s May 30, 2019 exe­cu­tion of Christopher Price. On June 24, the Court grant­ed a motion filed by National Public Radio (NPR) and the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press (RCFP), to unseal all Supreme Court plead­ings in the case of Price v. Dunn, in which — based on redact­ed fil­ings — the Court per­mit­ted Price’s execution to…

Facts & Research

Recent Legislative Activity

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Lethal Injection

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Apr 19, 2019

Veil of Execution Secrecy Expands in Several Southern Death-Penalty States

Three south­ern states have tak­en action to lim­it the public’s access to infor­ma­tion relat­ing to exe­cu­tions by increas­ing secre­cy sur­round­ing lethal-injec­tion drug sup­pli­ers. On April 12, 2019, the Texas Supreme Court reversed an ear­li­er deci­sion that would have dis­closed the source of lethal-injec­tion drugs used to car­ry out exe­cu­tions in Texas in 2014, assert­ing that dis­clo­sure ​“would cre­ate a sub­stan­tial threat of phys­i­cal harm to the source’s employ­ees and oth­ers.” On…

Executions

Lethal Injection

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Mar 11, 2019

Two Legislatures, Two Divergent Approaches to Execution Transparency

After con­tro­ver­sial exe­cu­tions raised ques­tions of gov­ern­ment com­pe­tence or mis­con­duct, leg­is­la­tures in two states have respond­ed with bills tak­ing sharply dif­fer­ent approach­es to the ques­tions of gov­ern­ment account­abil­i­ty and public…

Executions

Lethal Injection

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Nov 20, 2018

Behind the Curtain: Secrecy and the Death Penalty in the United States

During the past sev­en years, states have begun con­duct­ing exe­cu­tions with drugs and drug com­bi­na­tions that have nev­er been tried before. They have done so behind an expand­ing veil of secre­cy laws that shield the exe­cu­tion process from public…

Executions

Lethal Injection

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May 30, 2018

With Drugs Expiring and Lawsuits Pending, Nebraska Prosecutors Seek to Expedite Execution

Facing an August 2018 expi­ra­tion date for two of the drugs in Nebraska​’s exper­i­men­tal exe­cu­tion pro­to­col, state Attorney General Douglas Peterson (pic­tured) has asked the Nebraska Supreme Court to expe­dite con­sid­er­a­tion of the pros­e­cu­tor’s request to set a July exe­cu­tion date for con­demned pris­on­er Carey Dean Moore. The attor­ney gen­er­al has peti­tioned the court to sched­ule Moore’s exe­cu­tion for July 10 ​“or alter­na­tive­ly for a date in…

Policy Issues

Human Rights

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International

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Lethal Injection

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Nov 28, 2017

Senior U.N. Official Assails Death-Penalty Secrecy As Obstruction of Human Rights

A senior United Nations human rights offi­cial has crit­i­cized the secre­cy with which coun­tries car­ry out the death penal­ty and called for greater trans­paren­cy by coun­tries that still employ cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment. ​“There is far too much secre­cy,” United Nations Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights Andrew Gilmour (pic­tured) said in an inter­view released November 21 by the U.N. News Centre, ​“and it’s quite indica­tive the fact that although many countries are…

Executions

Lethal Injection

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Nov 22, 2017

South Carolina Seeks Drug-Secrecy Law to Carry Out Execution that was Never Going to Happen

Claiming that a lack of lethal-injec­tion drugs was pre­vent­ing the state from exe­cut­ing Bobby Wayne Stone (pic­tured, right) on December 1, South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster (pic­tured, left) urged state leg­is­la­tors to act quick­ly to enact an exe­cu­tion-drug secre­cy law. But as McMaster and Department of Corrections Director Bryan Stirling held a press con­fer­ence out­side barbed-wire fences at the Broad River Capital Punishment Facility in Columbia, South…

Executions

Lethal Injection

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Sep 25, 2017

Mixed Rulings in Arkansas and Arizona Highlight Issue of Lethal-Injection Secrecy

Recent court rul­ings in Arkansas and Arizona reach­ing oppo­site out­comes high­light the con­tin­u­ing con­tro­ver­sy over state prac­tices keep­ing infor­ma­tion relat­ing to state acqui­si­tion of drugs for use in exe­cut­ing pris­on­ers secret from the…

Executions

Lethal Injection

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Mar 20, 2017

Virginia Increases Execution Secrecy After Difficulty Setting IV in Last Execution

After prison per­son­nel took more than a half hour to set the IV line dur­ing Virginia​’s January 18 exe­cu­tion of Ricky Gray, the Commonwealth’s Department of Corrections has changed its exe­cu­tion pro­ce­dures to con­duct more of the exe­cu­tion prepa­ra­tions out of view of…

Executions

Lethal Injection

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Aug 04, 2016

Pharmaceutical Companies Reiterate Opposition to Participating in Executions as States Scramble for Execution Drugs

Distribution restric­tions put in place by major phar­ma­ceu­ti­cal com­pa­nies in the United States against mis­use of their med­i­cines and export reg­u­la­tions insti­tut­ed by the European Union have made it increas­ing­ly dif­fi­cult for states to obtain sup­plies of drugs for use in exe­cu­tions. However, despite these restric­tions, some states have obtained phar­ma­ceu­ti­cal prod­ucts man­u­fac­tured by these com­pa­nies for use in lethal…

Policy Issues

Arbitrariness

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Executions Overview

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Methods of Execution

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Lethal Injection

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Aug 02, 2013

LETHAL INJECTION: Shortage of Drugs Leaves Texas Unsure About Future Executions

On August 1, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice announced its remain­ing sup­ply of pen­to­bar­bi­tal, used for lethal injec­tions, expires in September, and it is unsure where to obtain more. The drug’s man­u­fac­tur­er, Lundbeck, Inc., has barred dis­tri­b­u­tion to states intend­ing to use the drug in…