Federal magistrate weighs arguments in Idaho news groups' execution access lawsuit

Idaho officials allow media witnesses to see the first step of lethal injection executions — placing an inmate on a gurney and inserting the IV lines — as well as the third step of the process, which is watching the impact the lethal drugs have on the inmate and seeing a coroner declare the inmate dead.

But Olson said the state is wrongly barring the public from seeing the second step, which is the process of actually drawing the lethal drugs into syringes and then pushing those drugs into the IV lines connected to the condemned person. Those steps are carried out in a separate room, she said, and the state has refused media witness requests to view the process via closed-circuit television.

Tanner Smith, the attorney representing prison officials, told Grasham that when it comes to analyzing Idaho history, lethal injections shouldn't be compared to hangings. There is no “historical right of access” to the work done in the “medication team room," including the administration of lethal drugs, he said.

The pushing of the drugs is a “minute detail,” and the public can rely on prison officials to accurately tell them whether that process was successful, Smith said. Keeping the medication team room hidden from public view helps protect those volunteer team members from being identified and subjected to harassment or threats, he said.

Grasham seemed skeptical.

“It’s a minute detail?” she asked, later continuing, “How can the administration of the drug be anything but inextricably intertwined?”

Grasham also asked why the people in the medication team room couldn’t simply wear the same surgical garb that other execution team members use to hide their identities. Smith said they could, but they might have unique characteristics like their stature that would stand out despite face masks, gloves and head coverings.

Grasham said she would issue a written ruling on the preliminary injunction request, but did not say when the ruling would be issued.

Twenty-seven states authorize the death penalty, according to the Death Penalty Information Center, though some have paused executions or do not have anyone on death row. The states also vary widely on how many media witnesses they allow at executions, as well as how much of the execution process witnesses are allowed to see.

This is not the first time The Associated Press and other news organizations have sued Idaho officials in an attempt to increase execution access. In 2012, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ordered prison officials to allow the news organizations to view the first part of lethal injection executions, including when a condemned person is brought into the execution chamber, secured to the execution gurney and the IV is inserted.

Idaho has attempted four lethal injection executions since the 1970s. Three of them were completed, but the most recent attempt, involving Thomas Eugene Creech, was aborted last year after execution team members were unable to successfully establish an IV line after eight attempts in Creech's arms and legs.

Lawmakers passed a new law this year that will make firing squads the state's primary method of execution, starting next year.