Makers and suppliers of Alabama's execution drugs would be kept secret and not released to the public or the courts under a bill approved in the Alabama House of Representatives.
House members voted 77-19 for the bill being sought by the Alabama Department of Corrections. It now moves to the Alabama Senate, reported the Charlotte Observer.
Rep. Lynn Greer, R-Rogersville, said companies are becoming hesitant to supply the drugs because of the threat of lawsuits and backlash from death penalty opponents.
"We're having a terrible time getting the drug. The Department of Corrections can't get the drugs. It's just simple," Greer said.
Richard Dieter, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, said about seven states have adopted similar laws, which he said are being challenged in court.
Supporters of the Alabama bill said the state should protect people playing a role in court-ordered executions from the threat of lawsuits and retaliation. Opponents argued the details of the state-sanctioned taking of a life should not be kept secret.
"I think any contractor in the state of Alabama should be open record," said Rep. Napoleon Bracy, D-Prichard.
"People can create this drug and sell it to the people of Alabama in our prisons. That drug's intent is to kill someone. Then they don't want anyone to know who they are, but they want to profit from selling the drug," Bracy said.
The identities of the drug companies would not be subject to disclosure in a lawsuit or admissible as evidence, according to the legislation. The bill would also keep secret the names of people who perform any ancillary function related to an execution.
Alabama in 2002 switched from the electric chair to lethal injection as its primary form of execution.
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