Alabama Refuses to Name Execution Drug Suppliers
Alabama’s prison commissioner is refusing to disclose the suppliers of Alabama’s lethal injection drugs, citing a confidentiality order in a lawsuit filed by an inmate.
Alabama Department of Corrections Commissioner Kim Thomas issued a statement Thursday denying a public records request filed by the Associated Press. Thomas says he’s unable because of a confidentiality order in a lawsuit challenging the state’s lethal injection drug protocol.
The prison department is simultaneously seeking legislation that would keep the names secret and off-limits to both the public and the courts.
Alabama is one of several states fighting over execution drug secrecy.
Randy Susskind, a lawyer with the Equal Justice Initiative, says he believes the information should be available to the public. Susskind says there are questions on whether the drugs create torture risks.
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