(AP) – A Missouri appellate court has ruled that the state’s
prison officials aren’t obligated to publicly reveal the source of the drug used
to execute death row inmates.
The Kansas City Star reports that the appellate court’s Western District
decided Tuesday to overturn a 2016 trial court ruling that the state wrongly
withheld documents that would identify pharmaceutical suppliers.
The appeals court agreed with the state that a law that protects the identity
of the state’s execution team applies to those who supply the execution drug
pentobarbital. Citing the open records exemption, Missouri has declined for
several years to say where it obtains its drugs.
The lawsuit was filed in 2014 by media organizations including The Associated
Press, The Kansas City Star and St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
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