LINCOLN, Neb. — As Nebraska gets ready for what could be the first execution in 20 years, a court is ordering the corrections department to release information on the purchase of the drugs to be used in carrying out the death penalty.
The ACLU initially sued the corrections department said it didn't comply with open records requests as it withheld the supplier of the drugs to be used in the execution.
The District Court of Lancaster County ordered the Nebraska Department of Corrections to release records
In a statement, Executive Director for the ACLU of Nebraska Danielle Conrad said:
“Overall the ACLU is pleased with the court’s decision reaffirming Nebraska’s proud tradition of open government. We are reviewing the decision carefully to determine next steps. In the short term, we look forward to reviewing documents about the source of Nebraska’s execution drugs to learn more about the legal and policy issues involved in their acquisition. We appreciate that Nebraskans of goodwill hold divergent viewpoints on the death penalty, but the citizens' referendum did not grant permission to state officials to cloak the death penalty in secrecy. The court's decision today ensures transparency and accountability as the state seeks to carry out its most grave function."
The corrections department will have seven days to release the documents.
Source: nebraska.tw, KHGI, June 19, 2018
⚑ | Report an error, an omission, a typo; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; submit a piece, a comment; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us:
deathpenaltynews@gmail.com.
Opposed to Capital Punishment? Help us keep this blog up and running! DONATE!
"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted." -- Oscar Wilde