MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) – The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday ordered court filings unsealed related to a recent execution in Alabama.
Justices granted a request from NPR and the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press to make the court filings public without having portions blacked out. The filings related to Christopher Lee Price’s request for a stay prior to his May execution. Attorneys for Price argued that the state’s lethal injection method is unconstitutionally painful.
The briefs filed in the case before the U.S. Supreme Court were heavily redacted as Alabama sought to keep its execution protocol “confidential.”
NPR asked that unredacted versions of the briefs be made public. Justices agreed.
Alabama did not oppose the request, according a court filing, since a federal appellate court recently ruled in another case that Alabama can’t keep its lethal injection protocol secret.