USA: GEORGIA HIGH COURT UPHOLDS LAW PROTECTING ANONYMITY OF EXECUTION DRUG SUPPLIERS

May 19, 2014: Georgia's highest court ruled that the law that makes the identity of an execution drug supplier a "confidential state secret" is constitutional. In a 5-to-2 decision, the Supreme Court reversed a lower court ruling that granted a stay of execution to death row inmate Warren Lee Hill. The stay was issued on 18 July 2013, after Hill's lawyers challenged the constitutionality of the 2013 law. Supreme Court Presiding Justice P. Harris Hines wrote in the 33-page majority opinion keeping secret the identity of entities involved in an execution can shield them from harassment or retaliation from family members of inmates or from death penalty opponents. Hines added that, without that confidentiality, there is a significant risk that entities needed for an execution might be unwilling to participate. (Sources: Associated Press, 19/05/2014)