2 lose round in suit over death drugs

ST. LOUIS — Two Mississippi death-row inmates suing for the identity of Missouri’s supplier of lethal-injection drugs are studying their next options after their latest setback in federal court.

A three-judge panel with the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis ruled in October that Missouri can keep its pentobarbital provider secret. Last week, the full 8th Circuit denied the inmates’ request to hear the matter.

An attorney for the inmates, Jim Craig, said Thursday that he’s weighing the next move, which could include asking the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene or dropping the litigation.

The pentobarbital provider has argued it won’t supply states if its anonymity vanishes.

The inmates, while challenging Mississippi’s three-drug execution protocol, have sued Missouri and two other states with one-drug execution methods for specifics about their providers.