The Tennessee Court of Appeals ruling in West v. Schofield is available in Adobe .pdf format.
"Appeals court to state: Turn over IDs of executioners," is by Brian Haas of the Tennessean. Here's an extended excerpt from the beginning:
Tennessee has to turn over the identities of executioners to attorneys representing 11 death row inmates challenging the state’s death penalty, according to an appeals ruling.
The Tennessee Court of Appeals on Monday ruled that state secrecy laws surrounding lethal injection procedures don’t apply to court cases, which are instead guided by discovery rules. Its ruling requires the state to turn over the identities of its execution team to attorneys for the inmates, under seal.
Kelley Henry, a federal public defender who represents some of the death row inmates, lauded the ruling and said it would protect both the inmates and the state.
“This approach is measured and reasonable,” she said. “It protects the rights of my clients as well as those of the defendants.”
The 11 inmates filed suit in November in Davidson County Chancery Court challenging the secrecy surrounding Tennessee’s lethal injection procedures and the constitutionality of its backup plan, the electric chair. They argued that there’s no way to ensure the state’s death penalty is constitutional if they don’t have access to where the state obtains its lethal injection drugs, the makeup of the chemical cocktail used to execute inmates and the makeup of the execution team. The other issues have yet to be decided by the lower court.
"Court: State must release execution information," is AP coverage, via WMOT-FM.
A state appeals court has ruled that Tennessee must turn over the names of those people involved in executions to attorneys for 11 death row inmates. The inmates are suing over the state's lethal injection and electrocution procedures.
The lawsuit came to a standstill after the state refused to turn over the names of people involved in the procedures, including the pharmacist who will compound the drug used for lethal injection.
And:
The names will be released only to the inmates' attorneys, and they are prohibited from revealing the names to nearly anyone else, including their clients.
Attorney General's Office spokeswoman Leigh Ann Jones said attorneys there are still reviewing the ruling.
Earlier coverage from Tennessee begins at the link.
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