Public Records Can’t Be Withheld On Origin of Execution Drugs, Court Says

OMAHA, Neb. (AP May 15) – The Nebraska Supreme Court says prison officials cannot withhold public records that reveal where they purchased their supply of lethal injection drugs.

The court ordered the documents to be disclosed for public scrutiny.  Justices sided with two newspapers and a prisoner advocacy group that sued the Department of Correctional Services after the agency refused to release records related to its supply in 2017.

The department previously regularly disclosed such records without objection to anyone who requested them. Department officials at the time were under increasing pressure to obtain lethal injection drugs as death-penalty critics questioned whether Nebraska would ever carry out another execution.