U.S. District Judge Murray Snow ruled that the media outlets didn't show they had a First Amendment right to knowing the suppliers of lethal injection drugs. The judge said the First Amendment protects the right of people to argue about the death penalty, but it doesn't require Arizona to reveal "protected information to the detriment of the state's ability to carry out its constitutional, lawfully imposed criminal punishments." Like other states, Arizona is struggling to buy execution drugs after U.S. and European pharmaceutical companies began blocking the use of their products in lethal injections. He noted that state law protects the identities of executioners and death penalty drug suppliers. Other news organizations that filed the lawsuit are The Arizona Republic, Guardian News & Media, Arizona Daily Star, CBS 5 (KPHO-TV) and 12 News (KPNX-TV).

Source: ABC News September 21, 2017 19:25 UTC