The Associated Press and four other media companies argue in a federal lawsuit that Indiana's ban on reporters attending state-sanctioned executions violates the public's constitutional right to an independent and unsanitized description of a sensitive and contentious government action.
The complaint, filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Indianapolis, comes two weeks before the scheduled execution of Benjamin Ritchie, who was condemned for the September 2000 fatal shooting of Beech Grove Police Officer Bill Toney during a foot chase.
