Execution secrecy

The Missouri Legislature this year passed and sent to Gov. Matt Blunt a bill that appears to fly in the face of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

House Bill 820 does three things, two of which are needed for Missouri to resume executions of death-row prisoners. One part of the bill requires the director of the Department of Corrections to select a medical team -- "whose identities must be kept confidential" -- to administer lethal gas or chemicals at an execution. Another part prohibits any board or department from sanctioning the license of an execution team member.

It the third part, which allows any member of an execution team to sue for actual and punitive damages in the event that person's identity is disclosed without the director's consent, that raises serious issues.

There are good reasons to want to protect the identity of anyone on an execution team. But there are also good reasons, on occasion, to report the name of a team member, as the St. Louis Post-Dispatch did in January when it reported that the state's execution doctor was dyslexic, had been sued for malpractice many times and had been disciplined by the State Board of Registration for the Healing Arts.

Governor Blunt has compelling reasons to sign this bill, considering the number of convicted felons awaiting execution and the overwhelming support in the legislature. But the provision that puts legitimate reporting under a cloud should give him -- and legislators -- good reason for pause.