Texas lawmakers press to shield suppliers of execution drugs

Saying that executions in Texas are becoming “increasingly difficult to carry out,” state officials Wednesday urged lawmakers to send Republican Gov. Greg Abbott a bill that would prevent even death row inmates from knowing the identity of lethal injection drug suppliers.

The debate in the Legislature took place just hours before the sixth person this year was set to die in Texas, where the nation’s busiest death chamber is again running low on inventory.

The office of Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton told a Texas House committee that execution drug manufacturers won’t sell to the state anymore unless their identities are kept completely confidential. Suppliers have reported being threatened by death penalty opponents and say they won’t take the risk. Continue>>>
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