AUSTIN — The identity of execution drug makers for the nation’s busiest death chamber would remain confidential under a bill passed by the Texas Senate.
The Republican-controlled Senate approved the measure Monday, a day before a 32-year-old Houston man was scheduled to become the seventh convicted killer executed in Texas this year.
An ongoing court challenge already prohibits Texas from disclosing where the state buys execution drugs.
That ruling came after manufacturers reported being threatened by death penalty opponents.
Momentum is now building to have Republican Gov. Greg Abbott sign a law that would permanently keep the names of execution drug suppliers under wraps.
Even the lawyers for condemned inmates wouldn’t know the supplier.
State officials say execution drug makers will no longer sell to Texas unless their identity is kept secret.
