National Public Radio and the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press is asking the Supreme Court to release unredacted briefs in a case in which the court refused a stay in an execution of a murderer convicted in Alabama. The information the court withheld concerned the drugs and methods Alabama uses in its executions. The reporters committee said the redactions were unprecedented and made independently of Alabama officials who did not insist on them. (NRP content blocked, June 7, 2019, by Nina Totenberg)
The briefs addressed the issue of whether midazolam, a drug used in Alabama executions violated a convicted inmate’s Eighth Amendment protections against cruel and unusual punishment. The brief said the unsealing of the files was vital in enabling the public to understand the Supreme Court’s denial of a stay of execution. (RCFP, June 7, 2019, by Courtney Douglas and Sarah Mathews)