Idaho prison officials must allow media witnesses at executions to watch as lethal injection drugs are prepared and administered to a condemned person, a federal judge ruled Tuesday.
U.S. District Judge Debora K. Grasham ordered the Idaho Department of Correction to provide the audio and visual access for any executions that occur while a First Amendment lawsuit from a coalition of news organizations moves forward in court. The state doesn't have any executions scheduled, Grasham noted, so prison officials have time to install a closed-circuit audio and visual feed before they are again tasked with putting someone to death.
