DALLAS — Texas law enforcement officials are refusing to say what threats were behind a key letter that led the state attorney general to reverse his long-held position that the identity of Texas' execution drug provider should be made public.
The Texas Department of Public Safety's one-page letter was cited Thursday by the Texas Attorney General's Office, which ruled state prison officials could keep its provider a secret. On Friday, the Department of Public Safety called any details about threats "law enforcement sensitive information," refusing to say if any pharmacies were in danger or what the agency was doing to investigate.
Anti-death penalty advocates have accused Texas and other states of trumping up threats to avoid disclosing their providers. So far, state and local law enforcement agencies have said little publicly about why they feel pharmacies are in danger.
The state prison system has long argued that safety concerns required it to keep suppliers' information private. Three times, Attorney General Greg Abbott's office refused the Texas Department of Criminal Justice's requests, saying the agency hadn't done enough to prove a threat.
In one of those opinions, issued two years ago, the office said that "while we acknowledge the department's concerns, we find you have not established disclosure of the responsive information would create a substantial threat of physical harm to any individual."
But in Thursday's opinion reversing that position, Abbott's office cited Department of Public Safety director Steven McCraw's letter as proof that law enforcement believed a threat existed.
TDCJ requested the March 7 letter from McCraw, DPS spokesman Tom Vinger said. The letter says there were threats made against the Woodlands Compounding Pharmacy, a Houston-area facility that was identified in a previous open-records request as the state supplier.
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The Texas Department of Public Safety's one-page letter was cited Thursday by the Texas Attorney General's Office, which ruled state prison officials could keep its provider a secret. On Friday, the Department of Public Safety called any details about threats "law enforcement sensitive information," refusing to say if any pharmacies were in danger or what the agency was doing to investigate.
Anti-death penalty advocates have accused Texas and other states of trumping up threats to avoid disclosing their providers. So far, state and local law enforcement agencies have said little publicly about why they feel pharmacies are in danger.
The state prison system has long argued that safety concerns required it to keep suppliers' information private. Three times, Attorney General Greg Abbott's office refused the Texas Department of Criminal Justice's requests, saying the agency hadn't done enough to prove a threat.
In one of those opinions, issued two years ago, the office said that "while we acknowledge the department's concerns, we find you have not established disclosure of the responsive information would create a substantial threat of physical harm to any individual."
But in Thursday's opinion reversing that position, Abbott's office cited Department of Public Safety director Steven McCraw's letter as proof that law enforcement believed a threat existed.
TDCJ requested the March 7 letter from McCraw, DPS spokesman Tom Vinger said. The letter says there were threats made against the Woodlands Compounding Pharmacy, a Houston-area facility that was identified in a previous open-records request as the state supplier.
continue to read here
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