RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - A coalition of media organizations has lost a lawsuit seeking greater access to executions in Virginia.
The media coalition, which includes The Associated Press, sued the department of corrections last year in federal court in Richmond. While media representatives are allowed to witness the portion of an execution in which lethal drugs are administered to an inmate, a curtain blocks public view while the executioners establish intravenous lines to administer the drugs that sedate, paralyze and ultimately kill the inmate.
Media outlets said they had a First Amendment right to access the entire process, but U.S. District Judge Robert Payne sided with corrections officials.
In his ruling issued Wednesday, Payne said similar lawsuits have also been rejected in Oklahoma and Arkansas.
The ruling can be appealed. A lawyer for the media outlets said they are disappointed in the ruling and assessing their options.
The procedures spelling out the rules and procedures for executing inmates in Virginia were revised in 2017 to keep more of the process out of public view after attorneys raised concerns about how long it took to place IV lines during the execution of Ricky Gray.
The new procedures have been used once since then, in July 2017.
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