Nashville Scene files suit against against the DOC
Posted April 17th, 2007 by Ginger
Categories: Current Events, Job
Back in February, Governor Bredesen issued an order that the Tennessee Department of Corrections conduct a thorough review of the state’s lethal injection protocol. In a previous post, I outlined some of the reasons that this review is urgent.
Let’s review those in layman’s terms, shall we?
1) The execution procedure manual is a joke. It was written by a prison warden who has no medical knowledge whatsoever to decide how lethal injection should be administered.
2) A 90-day moratorium on executions is nowhere near enough time to conduct the kind of review needed to reform the policies and procedures.
3) The details of the review have been kept secret. From the public and the media.
Well now, The Nashville Scene is officially telling the Department of Corrections to cut the crap and disclose whatever the hell it is they are hiding from us.
According to The City Paper, the Scene went through the proper procedures to request the documentation twice, on February 16th and then again on March 21st, but to no avail.
All reviews have been conducted in secret, with the exception of one lame excuse for a hearing that only lasted 40 minutes (see description of hearing from Diploma Boy in this comment).
Now the courts will have to decide whether this information is truly “privileged” or if the press has a right to access the details of a review that could have a profound affect on the future of our death penalty procedures.
I say kudos to Liz Garrigan and The Scene for taking the good ‘ol boys to task.
Hat-Tip to Gingersnaps across the pond for this interesting post.
A mixture of law, politics, autobiography and humour. Once described as "The Devilish Advocate" (Guardian), I do have the ability to provoke a response. Sometimes it comes from someone who uses a thought process, and sometimes from jerks usually associated with the knee.
Thanks, luv. I think what ever decision comes from this will affect disclosure issues across the country and not just in Tennessee.
ReplyDeleteHi Ginger: Thank you for posting it first, I'm just spreading the word. The two links I sent you form part of an argument to do away with the death penalty altogether. I agree, its much wider than just a State thing.
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