Professional media associations will now designate a reporter to witness executions in Missouri as part of a settlement following a federal lawsuit filed by the ACLU of Missouri in 2016 on behalf of investigative journalist Chris McDaniel.
Until this settlement, the approval or rejection of a media witness application was solely at the discretion of the director of the Missouri Department of Corrections.
McDaniels, who reports for BuzzFeed News and previously reported for St. Louis Public Radio, was rejected repeatedly by the Missouri Department of Corrections because the director objected to the viewpoint of his reporting. He was denied the opportunity to witness all of the 17 executions that the state has carried out since he applied to be a witness.
“The government cannot give or deny access to a reporter based on government officials’ feelings about an individual’s reporting,” said Tony Rothert, legal director, ACLU of Missouri.
“A free press is vital to ensuring that the government remains accountable to the people. Allowing the government to pick and choose which reporters have access to government functions is a vital threat to fair and unbiased reporting.”
Under the terms of the settlement, the Associated Press, the Missouri Press Association, and the Missouri Broadcasters’ Association will designate a reporter to witness executions.
For more about the case, visit https://www.aclu-mo.org/en/cases/mcdaniel-v-lombardi.
Missouri is one of 30 states where state execution is legal, though three states (Colorado, Oregon and Pennsylvania) have suspended executions under a governor’s moratorium.