Prisons running low on execution drugs again, but prison agency withholds details
By Mike Ward
AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Updated: 10:39 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2012
A new report surfaced on Tuesday that Texas again might be running out of a key drug used to execute its condemned criminals, but state prison officials said that they have enough to carry out the next six scheduled executions.
What happens after that might be anyone's guess, thanks to a new no-disclosure policy imposed by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice on details about the execution drugs.
Two years ago, the prison system revealed its drug supplier and the amount of drugs on hand after Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott issued an opinion saying it was public information. The prison system had sought to keep the information secret, arguing that releasing details about the drug supply might trigger violent protests outside the execution chamber or embolden death penalty opponents.
Prison system spokesman Jason Clark said Tuesday that the agency is seeking another opinion from the attorney general on the execution drug information "because the law has changed and due to changing circumstances."
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