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Lawsuit Challenges Arkansas Execution Secrecy

Death row inmates Stacey E. Johnson, left, and Ledelle Lee, both scheduled for execution on April 20, 2017.

A lawsuit contends Arkansas is violating the state’s open records law and its own execution policy by refusing to release documents proving they obtained lethal drugs from legitimate sources ahead of four double-executions set for next month.

Steven Shults says he can no longer receive product labels from the Arkansas Department of Correction. The agency used to release the material, but said it will no longer do so after The Associated Press used the label’s distinct typography to unmask the manufacturers in 2015.

Heather Zachary, a lawyer for Shults, says that with Arkansas's history of once acquiring drugs from a company located in the back of a London driving school, it’s important for the state to reveal its sources. The prison department says the drugs were manufactured and are FDA-approved.

The Associated Press is one of the largest and most trusted sources of independent newsgathering, supplying a steady stream of news to its members, international subscribers and commercial customers. AP is neither privately owned nor government-funded; instead, it's a not-for-profit news cooperative owned by its American newspaper and broadcast members.