Today's Arizona Republic reports, "Media asks to witness Arizona lethal-injection preparation." It's written by Michael Kiefer.
Last week, a 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals judge questioned why the media had not demanded to witness how Arizona Corrections officials prepare death-row prisoners for execution, and on Tuesday, a media association rose to the challenge.
The First Amendment Coalition of Arizona Inc. filed a motion in federal court to intervene in a federal lawsuit filed by several Arizona death-row prisoners challenging the state's lethal-injection procedures.
U.S. District Court Judge Neil Wake denied the coalition the right to intervene, which would have made them plaintiffs in the case. But he did allow the journalists to have "amicus" status, meaning they can file briefs related to the case and still argue the right to witness how executioners insert IV catheters that deliver the lethal drugs.
One of the prisoners, Samuel Lopez, faces execution June 27. He was supposed to be put to death on May 16, but the Arizona Supreme Court stayed the execution because three members of the state's clemency board had not yet undergone sufficient training to consider Lopez's clemency request.
At issue, as the 9th Circuit judge wrote, is that "the state insists upon extreme secrecy" in its executions. Attorneys for Lopez and the other defendants have repeatedly detailed how state executioners have struggled to insert the catheters that carry the lethal drugs into prisoners' arms and usually end up surgically implanting a catheter in the prisoners' femoral veins, located in their groin areas.
One prisoner who was executed, Robert Towery, was allegedly denied the ability to speak to his attorneys when the medical team was unable to find a vein in his arms and instead installed the femoral catheter.
And:
The First Amendment Coalition includes the Arizona Newspapers Association, Arizona Broadcasters Association, Arizona-New Mexico Cable Communications Association, Society of Professional Journalists and Arizona Press Club.
KPHO-TV reports, "First Amendment organization challenges execution secrecy," by Morgan Loew.
The Arizona First Amendment Coalition has filed a motion in federal court that may shed new light on Arizona's controversial execution process.The motion to intervene cites problems the Department of Corrections has had in administering the lethal injection to condemned inmates, as well as the public's First Amendment right to view all aspects of the execution process.The motion asks the federal judge to allow a member of the media to witness the entire execution process. Right now, witnesses are limited to the final stage of the execution.
The motion comes on the heels a 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that indicates Arizona's execution process is draped in more secrecy than the processes in other states.
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