Judge tells Alabama to release lethal injection information
MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Alabama officials were ordered Wednesday to release information about the state’s lethal injection procedure as a federal judge granted news organizations’ request to unseal records in the wake of an aborted execution.
U.S. Judge Karon O. Bowdre ruled that the public has a “common law right of access to the sealed records relating to Alabama’s lethal injection protocol.” However, Bowdre said the state can keep some information secret in the interest of security, such as the names of low-level prison employees involved in executions.
The judge ordered the state to tell her by June 7 if there is identifying information in any of the records that the court plans to make public.
Alabama for years has released scant details about its execution process or where it obtains the drugs used.