FILE - In this Sept. 21, 2011 file photo, a corrections officer keeps watch outside the Texas Department of Criminal Justice Huntsville Unit in Huntsville, Texas. A two-year dispute about execution drugs in the nation's most active death penalty state is returning to court as Texas seeks to keep secret the identity of whoever provided its drugs for lethal injections before a law last year clamped a firm lid on any supplier's name. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip, File) (The Associated Press)
AUSTIN, Texas – An appeals court panel considering whether Texas must divulge the source of its execution drugs is questioning whether keeping it secret could cripple the Texas Public Information Act.
State attorneys who want a lower court order to reveal the name overturned argued Wednesday before the 3rd Texas Court of Appeals that the provider would face physical harm if its name was disclosed. A lawyer for three attorneys who represented prisoners said the threat is vague and doesn't qualify for exemption.
The Austin American-Statesman reports (http://atxne.ws/1Ymh0gr ) Chief Justice Jeff Rose wondered where a line could be drawn "without blowing a hole" in the law. Other judges raised similar concerns.
The lawsuit involves only the supplier from April 2014 until last Sept. 1, when a Texas law keeping it confidential took effect.
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Information from: Austin American-Statesman, http://www.statesman.com
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