News organizations plan to appeal a ruling that concludes Arizona isn't required to reveal the identity of the companies that supply the state with drugs for executions.

News organizations will clash with Arizona prison officials over the First Amendment at a trial to determine whether the public has a right to know who supplies execution drugs and the qualifications of people who carry out the death penalty.

June marked the end of a three-year long legal battle to tighten up Arizona’s execution laws, but even after the state reached an agreement, the fate of those on death row is still uncertain.

Changes to the state execution policy published by the Arizona Department of Corrections appear to meet demands defense attorneys made in a lawsuit filed on behalf of seven death-row inmates.

Lawyers for death-row inmates say recent changes to Arizona's procedures for carrying out the death penalty didn't do enough to confront abuses in the state's power to decide the methods and amounts of drugs used in executions.

A ruling by a federal judge Wednesday night kept in play a temporary ban on executions in Arizona, but it also allows condemned prisoners to press forward with a lawsuit protesting the way the state has carried out the death penalty.

The U.S. Supreme Court is set to hear oral arguments April 29 on whether the use of the sedative midazolam in a three-drug combination makes for an unconstitutional execution.

A report commissioned by the Dept of Corrections on the execution of Joseph Wood found no fault in the agency’s two-drug protocol. Still, consultants who prepared the report, which was released today (Dec. 22), recommended that DOC ditch the protocol. Subsequently, DOC Director Charles Ryan has decided not to use the two-drug combination of midazolam and hydromorphone in executions.

The state has agreed not to execute anyone until after a judge has ruled on a lawsuit asking for the Department of Corrections to release information on drugs used to execute a prisoner who snorted and gasped for two hours before dying.

It could be months before Arizona officials seek execution warrants for death-row inmates after a judge granted a joint request by the state and defense attorneys.