Now that Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin has called for an investigation to be conducted by a state agency under her control, the ACLU of Oklahoma has issued the following statements in response:
The following is attributable to Ryan Kiesel, Executive Director, ACLU of Oklahoma:
It is impossible for the Department of Public Safety, the Attorney General’s office, or anyone who is under the control of any agency or politician who played a role in this matter to offer a truly independent assessment. It is absurd to think that the same group of people that unnecessarily rushed last night’s execution and fought openness at every turn, can now be expected to hold themselves accountable in an investigation. This began as a question of whether we trust the government to kill its citizens, even guilty ones, in a secret process. Now we add to that the question of whether we trust the government to investigate itself and hold itself accountable when something goes horribly wrong during its secret execution process.
The following is attributable to Brady Henderson, Legal Director, ACLU of Oklahoma:
The Governor’s proposal creates a serious conflict of interest. Over the past few weeks, the Attorney General and Governor fought every attempt at transparency or accountability in our execution process, vigorously promoting a secret, and very flawed, lethal injection system that predictably produced the state-funded torture of a human being. As a result, the fight to ensure transparency, accountability, and compliance with the United States Constitution will continue in the courts. In the mean time, if we want an investigation worthy of any confidence or credibility, it cannot be conducted by the very people who caused this disgrace in the first place.