Mississippi says it has execution drugs amid secrecy fight

Mississippi: A new supply of execution drugs.

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi prison officials have obtained new supplies of execution drugs, which could allow the state to carry out lethal injections after some other drugs expired, they said in court papers.

The state provided that information Monday in an ongoing lawsuit over its execution methods. 

Mississippi's new execution secrecy law should block lawyers for death row inmates from finding out too much about the state's plans to administer the death penalty, the state said. 

Among the things the state wants is a federal judge to protect the identity of the drug supplier, as well as any clues in other documents about who that supplier might be.

Lawyers for death row inmates, though, are asking U.S. District Judge Henry T. Wingate to force the state to provide more information about Department of Corrections' drug-buying effort, saying it's necessary to pursue their lawsuit challenging Mississippi's current execution method. 

The court showdown will determine whether the state law can trump a federal lawsuit on the subject.

Attorney General Jim Hood told The Associated Press in June that he hopes to ask the Mississippi Supreme Court to set execution dates for Richard Jordan and Thomas Loden Jr. this year. 

Mississippi hasn't executed anyone since 2012, in part because of the legal challenges and the drug shortages. 

Both Loden and Jordan have filed fresh appeals since they lost state appeals over the use of midazolam and Jordan is also still seeking a rehearing, so it's unclear when executions can move forward.

Source: MySA, AP, Jeff Amy, August 16, 2017

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