State files appeal to challenge Warren Hill's stay of execution
Olens: Secrecy law 'does not bar Hill's access to the courts in any way'
Georgia is asking a high state court to reconsider death-row inmate Warren Hill's indefinite stay of execution.
State Attorney General Sam Olens today filed a petition for immediate review with the Georgia Supreme Court one week after Hill was scheduled to be executed. Fulton County Superior Court Judge Gail Tusan extended his stay last week after concerns over a new state law that keeps secret the names of companies that supply the state with lethal injection drugs.
In the state's appeal, Olens contests Tusan's ruling that the secrecy law unconstitutionally limits Hill's access to the courts.
"The law does not bar Hill's access to the courts in any way. It does not and has not prevented Hill from challenging the lethal injection protocol, or from obtaining information on the drug's purity and its sterility," the appeal says.
We'll keep this post brief: Check out the full appeal below and read this week's column on the secrecy law for more background.