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Why the ACLU supports public viewing of
executions
The ACLU of Ohio believes that witnesses must be able to view the entire execution of prisoners on death row. Executions are matters of public concern and should be transparent to the public. It is important that citizens have access to the entire procedure through the media so that they can see the brutality of the death penalty.
Limiting viewing of executions is unconstitutional on several fronts. When, media witnesses are kept from viewing the entire procedure, the First Amendment right to view government proceedings is violated. In addition, the Eighth Amendment is violated because public oversight of a government activity is eliminated. Finally, by carrying out executions in secret, the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment is violated.
Ohio uses lethal injection as its sole method of execution. First, the staff inserts intravenous shunts into the inmate’s arms. After that, the inmate is escorted into the death chamber and strapped to the gurney. Then the inmate speaks his or her final words, and the execution team administers the lethal drugs.
As a result of the ACLU’s lawsuit Apanovich v. Wilkinson, the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections made some changes to how executions are carried out. Prior to the lawsuit, witnesses were only able to see the condemned enter the execution chamber with the IV shunts already inserted in his arms.
In response to the lawsuit, ODRC set up closed-circuit TV cameras in the prep room so that the witnesses were able to view the intubation and other preparations before the condemned was escorted into the execution chamber.
Ohio allows certain people to witness the execution:
• The warden of the institution where the execution takes place
• The sheriff of the county in which the inmate was tried and convicted
• The director of ODRC or whoever he designates
• Physicians
• A clergyperson in attendance upon the inmate
• Three people designated by the inmate (cannot be another inmate)
• Three people designated by the immediate family of the victim
• Representatives of the media
Despite the ACLU’s lawsuit, these witnesses cannot always view the entire procedure. Sometimes they have not been able to see the inmate put in restraints, or the administering of the drugs. Furthermore, in some executions, members of the staff have closed a curtain on parts of the procedure.
While the lawsuit has been dismissed, the ACLU of Ohio continues to monitor these procedures for constitutional violations.
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