Download this statement here.
The ACLU of Mississippi urges Governor Bryant to veto Senate Bill 2237! This bill is contrary to governmental transparency and speeds up the legally flawed and morally bankrupt process of ending prisoners’ lives.
The death penalty is the most absolute and extreme punishment available. Secret executions are unacceptable. We oppose the death penalty altogether. However, as long as Mississippi continues to sentence people to death, executions must remain transparent and our state government must remain accountable.
For 123 years, Mississippi executed people by hanging, followed by 14 years of electrocution and 45 years by gas chamber. Some states have turned to experimental drug combinations. Botched executions in Oklahoma, Arizona, and Ohio in 2014 have proven that drug and supplier information is essential. The public has a right to know this basic information under the First Amendment.
Today, 47 men at Parchman and one woman at Central Mississippi Correctional Facility are awaiting execution. The state of Mississippi should not shield companies doing business in this state from public scrutiny. Instead of advocating for the suppression of free speech, our state government should focus on making sure our criminal justice system ensures fairness and accuracy, so that Mississippi is never accused of executing an innocent person.
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