Bill Description: House Bill 525 would say the Idaho Department of Correction Director’s determinations regarding execution procedures are not subject to rulemaking or judicial review.
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Does it violate the spirit or the letter of either the United States Constitution or the Idaho Constitution? Examples include restrictions on speech, public assembly, the press, privacy, private property, or firearms. Conversely, does it restore or uphold the protections guaranteed in the US Constitution or the Idaho Constitution?
House Bill 525 would amend Section 19-2716, Idaho Code, to say that the Director of the Idaho Department of Correction “shall determine the procedures to be used in any execution. Such procedures shall not be subject to rulemaking, judicial review, or other provisions of chapter 52, title 67, Idaho Code.”
This change could reduce oversight, but it also clarifies responsibility.
The bill would also amend Section 19-2716A, Idaho Code, to expand the list of participants in the execution process whose identities “shall be confidential, shall not be subject to disclosure, and shall not be admissible as evidence or discoverable in any proceeding before any court, tribunal, board, agency, or person” to include “emergency medical personnel,” any member of the firing squad, “and any person or entity that provides technical assistance during the execution process.”
Shielding these identities from public disclosure could reduce the risk of lawfare or other forms of retaliation, but extending that secrecy even to a court investigating allegations of negligence, maleficence, or other criminality could create a barrier to justice.
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