Texas Case Could Impact Drug Secrecy Law in Georgia
A federal appeals court recently overturned a Texas court decision that called into question that state’s execution drug secrecy law. That decision could affect a pending Georgia death row case.Broadcast Version
When the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals threw out the Texas ruling, it paved the way for the execution of Tommy Lynn Sells. His lawyers asked the U-S Supreme Court to hear the case, but the high court declined. Sells died by lethal injection Thursday night.
Right now, the Supreme Court of Georgia is considering arguments from attorneys representing death row inmate Warren Lee Hill. They say they need access to the drug to test it for quality … to ensure using it to execute Hill would not amount to cruel and unusual punishment.
Many states have laws similar to Georgia’s, which keep information about the execution drugs they use secret.
Said WABE legal analyst Page Pate, “I’m somewhat surprised that the Supreme Court doesn’t step in and at least take one of these cases to clarify the law, so that it’s uniform across the country.” That, says Pate, may mean that Georgia’s highest court upholds the secrecy law without much fear of appeal.
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