The Guardian, the Oklahoma Observer, the American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Oklahoma have filed a lawsuit seeking to allow journalists and other witnesses to executions to "see everything that happens from the moment an inmate enters the execution chamber," the Washington Post reports. The lawsuit cites the fact that witnesses were not allowed to see the entirety of the execution of Clayton Lockett, whose botched killing left him writhing and grimacing before he finally died.
After a needle was inserted into Lockett's groin, his vein collapsed and the lethal-injection drugs did not get absorbed into his bloodstream, according to officials. When things went awry, correctional officials lowered the blinds and never lifted them back up, the Post reports. Lockett's final moments were not observed by the public.
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