Media Outlets Sue Oklahoma Over Botched Execution
Two media outlets have filed a lawsuit against the state of Oklahoma, claiming the state violated constitutional rights to free press when it prevented reporters from viewing the botched execution of inmate Clayton Lockett back in April.
The Oklahoma Observer and the Guardian US argued in their federal lawsuit filed Monday that during the graphic, 43-minute botched execution of Lockett back in April, prison officials obstructed the view of reporters witnessing the executions. The two media outlets argue the state and the prison violated the U.S. Constitution's rights to freedom of press by not allowing reporters to view Lockett's entire execution, which involved the inmate convulsing, moaning, and speaking after being injected, eventually dying of a heart attack.
The lawsuit argues that prison officials with the Oklahoma State Penitentiary reportedly refused to let reporters witness the preparation for the execution, including the intravenous tube being inserted in Lockett's vein, and also pulled the shade on the viewing gallery when the procedure began to go awry, about 16 minutes in.
"The assembled press was denied the opportunity to observe Clayton Lockett entering the execution chamber and his intravenous lines being prepared and inserted, "the lawsuit states, adding that prison officials pulled the shade early, therefore "prematurely terminating press access."
"Meaningful access to, and oversight of, execution proceedings is critical to the public's and the courts' ability to assess the propriety and lawfulness of the death penalty," the lawsuit continues, as reported by the Associated Press. "The public is deprived of the right to receive information about, and discuss the propriety of, the execution method if it is denied access to critical details of the state's execution proceedings."
Lockett is one of multiple inmates who have suffered botched executions in 2014 as a result of experimental execution drugs, including a new three drug lethal injection. Other inmates who underwent botched executions in 2014 include Arizona prisoner Joseph Rudolph Wood, Dennis McGuire of Ohio, and Michael Wilson of Oklahoma.
