LINCOLN — A coalition of Nebraska newspapers and broadcasters is going to court to fight a decision by state prison officials to withhold public records that identify its execution drug supplier.
Media of Nebraska Inc. filed a complaint in intervention Friday intended to compel the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services to release government records associated with the supplier of lethal injection drugs. Corrections officials have ignored requests for the records from the Lincoln Journal Star, The World-Herald and the ACLU of Nebraska.
Prison officials have released such records in the past but have withheld them now for reasons they have refused to fully explain.
In Friday’s legal filing, Media of Nebraska argued that both concealing the records and failing to provide a detailed rationale for the decision to withhold the records violate the Nebraska Public Records Act. Read more…