After being embarrassed by the revelation of records that it tried to keep secret, the Missouri Department of Corrections (MODOC) moved today to shield its execution drug supply from public scrutiny. In its new execution protocol, the MODOC redefined its execution team to include anyone involved in supplying the drugs used to kill inmates.
“This redefinition is significant because a Missouri statute requires that the identify of any member of the execution team be kept secret,” explains Jeffrey A. Mittman, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri Foundation.
“The Sunshine Law did a public service by revealing information about the questionable ways the state used to obtain its supply of execution drugs and the state has retaliated by now making it illegal to name anyone who supplies the drugs. This is not the open and transparent government that Missourians deserve, but the ACLU must abide by the law and therefore we have removed all of the documents we received through a Sunshine Law request regarding the state’s supply of execution drugs.”