It is becoming increasingly difficult for prison officials to obtain the drugs they need to administer lethal injections – at least directly from pharmaceutical companies. Some have turned to compounding pharmacies, which have rightly been subject to criticism after several high-profile instances of contamination and other quality control issues. The new DOC policy shields their drug suppliers from exactly that sort of scrutiny.
Whatever the justification may be for concealing the identities of individuals who actually carry out an execution, it is hard to imagine the basis for restricting access to the composition of the drugs, or the names of the businesses that supply them. Although the current US supreme court has recognized unprecedented rights for corporations, a right to privacy is not one of them.
In their
lawsuit, the news organizations are not only arguing that the DOC is violating its own state law. They contend that the new policy also violates the First Amendment. They cite the unbroken line of supreme court decisions recognizing that public access to the criminal justice process is essential to preserve the integrity of the system and to promote public confidence in it. This constitutional right not only protects reporting information about what the government is up to; it protects the right to obtain the information in the first place.
Source: The Guardian, May 15, 2014