Texas Supreme Court: state must reveal execution drug supplier

Photo: Internal Photo: Internal Image 1 of / 23 Caption Close Texas Supreme Court: state must reveal execution drug supplier 1 / 23 Back to Gallery

AUSTIN — The Texas Supreme Court has dumped the state’s appeal to hide where it buys execution drugs, forcing the state to reveal which pharmacy it bought from after years of fighting to keep the information secret. But it may make no difference.

The court ruled without comment Friday, backing a 2017 decision from the Austin-based 3rd Court of Appeals that found exemptions to the state’s open records law cannot hide the pharmacy’s identity. Prison officials have argued the information should remain secret to protect the drug suppliers from protests from death penalty opponents.

“They have been fighting tooth-and-nail about releasing information about their lethal injection drug supply from four years ago,” Maurie Levin, one of the three plaintiff lawyers on the case, said about the state’s fervent opposition. She said the ruling will effect naming the pharmacy that was used in 2014.

The ruling will have a limited effect, Levin said, because the Texas Legislature changed state law in 2015 to keep secret the names of pharmacies providing the state execution drugs.

“This case is really about transparency and open government and for the state of Texas to fight at every turn to keep the execution process, even from four years ago, behind closed doors is just outrageous,” she said.

Texas is still battling, though. The Department of Criminal Justice announced it will ask the high court for a rehearing.

MORE: Court weighs secrecy exemption in execution drug

The case was brought in 2014 by lawyers representing death row inmates concerned with details about the drug after botched executions in other states. Seeking to ensure the lethal cocktail would not result in an unconstitutional level of pain and suffering, the lawyers requested information like what drugs are used and where they come from.

The state refused to disclosed what pharmacy the execution drug came from, and Attorney General Ken Paxton agreed that such detail should be withheld to keep employees at the company safe.

Andrea Zelinski covers politics for the Houston Chronicle. Follow her on Twitter and Facebook. Send her tips at mailto:andrea.zelinski@chron.com..