ATLANTA (AP) – A federal appeals court sided with media organizations Monday in ruling that Alabama can’t keep its lethal injection protocol secret from the public.
A three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta rejected Alabama’s argument that its execution method is not a court record and thus should remain secret.
“Judicial records provide grounds upon which a court relies in deciding cases, and thus the public has a valid interest in accessing these records to ensure the continued integrity and transparency of our governmental and judicial offices,” the court stated in its ruling.
At issue is what the court described as the botched execution of Doyle Hamm on Feb. 22, 2018. The court said that after several failed attempts to insert a needle into his veins, the execution was called off as midnight approached. The Associated Press and other news outlets then sought the state’s execution protocol and related records.
Representatives of the Alabama Attorney General’s Office couldn’t immediately be reached for comment on Monday’s decision.