Case: The Associated Press v. Tewalt
1:24-cv-00587 | U.S. District Court for the District of Idaho
Filed Date: Dec. 6, 2024
Case Ongoing
Clearinghouse coding complete
Case Summary
This case is a lawsuit by the Associated Press, The Idaho Statesman, and East Idaho News against Josh Tewalt, in his official capacity as Director of the Idaho Department of Correction (IDOC). On December 6, 2024, the news organizations filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Idaho, seeking declaratory relief and preliminary and permanent injunctions prohibiting IDOC from preventing execution witnesses from viewing and hearing what occurs in the Medical Team Room leading up to, during, and immediately after future executions, as well as attorneys’ fees and costs under 42 U.S.C. § 1988.
The dispute arose from Idaho’s revised lethal-injection procedures after the State’s failed attempt to execute Thomas Creech in February 2024. According to the complaint, execution team members tried eight times over several hours to establish a viable IV line before halting the execution. After that failed attempt, IDOC renovated the execution unit and, in October 2024, issued revised execution procedures reflecting a new layout consisting of witness areas, an Execution Preparation Room, an Execution Chamber, and a separate Medical Team Room. Under the revised setup, witnesses could watch the condemned person in the Execution Preparation Room through a live closed-circuit audio and video feed and later in the Execution Chamber through a window. They could not, however, see or hear what occurred in the Medical Team Room. That room was central to the execution process because the IV lines passed from the condemned person, through a wall opening, into the Medical Team Room, where the medical team prepared and labeled syringes, drew the lethal drugs into those syringes, tracked and monitored the syringes, observed the condemned person and vital signs, and ultimately administered the lethal drugs through the IV lines. The plaintiffs alleged that this arrangement turned a critical part of the execution into a “black box,” allowing the public to observe only the effects of lethal injection, not the acts that produced them.
The plaintiffs brought the case under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, alleging that Idaho’s policy violated the First Amendment’s qualified right of public and press access to governmental proceedings, including executions and the procedures inextricably intertwined with them. In essence, the news organizations claimed that by denying witnesses access to the Medical Team Room, Idaho unlawfully prevented the press from serving its constitutionally protected role as the public’s surrogate in observing and reporting on the full execution process. They further alleged that Idaho’s continued issuance of death warrants and stated intent to carry out future executions made the dispute both imminent and recurring. On the same day they filed the complaint, the plaintiffs also moved for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction enjoining the defendant from precluding witnesses from viewing and hearing what occurs in the Medical Team Room during future executions.
The parties consented to magistrate judge jurisdiction, and the case was assigned to U.S. Magistrate Judge Debora K. Grasham. On February 3, 2025, IDOC filed a motion to dismiss. On March 6, 2025, Judge Grasham denied that motion, concluding that the news organizations had brought a real, reviewable dispute and had plausibly alleged that what happens in the Medical Team Room could fall within the First Amendment access right they invoked. The defendant then answered the complaint on March 10, 2025.
The court granted the plaintiffs’ motion for a preliminary injunction on April 29, 2025. Judge Grasham held that, at least at the preliminary stage, the plaintiffs had shown a qualified First Amendment right to witness the “preparation and administration of the lethal injection drugs”—the part of the execution that occurred in the Medical Team Room—and that verbal updates and post-execution reporting by officials were not adequate substitutes for independent observation. The order explicitly did not require full, general visibility into everything in the Medical Team Room, but it did require audio and visual access to medical team members performing tasks tied to preparing and administering the lethal drugs, and it pointed to a closed-circuit feed as a practical, less intrusive way to provide that access. Associated Press v. Tewalt, 780 F. Supp. 3d 1052 (D. Idaho 2025).
On May 21, 2025, the defendant filed a notice of appeal with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, challenging the preliminary injunction. On June 10, 2025, the district court entered an order staying further proceedings pending appeal. The case was heard in the Ninth Circuit on December 5, 2025.
Summary Authors
Jacob Chang (3/8/2026)
People
For PACER's information on parties and their attorneys, see: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69444722/parties/the-associated-press-v-tewalt/
Olson, Wendy (Idaho)
Pedersen, Eric Anders (Idaho)
Elia, Michael J (Idaho)
Schindele, Kristina M (Idaho)
Smith, Tanner J (Idaho)
Documents in the Clearinghouse
Docket
See docket on RECAP: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69444722/the-associated-press-v-tewalt/
Last updated April 4, 2026, 4:52 a.m.
Case Details
State / Territory:
Case Type(s):
Key Dates
Filing Date: Dec. 6, 2024
Case Ongoing: Yes
Plaintiffs
Plaintiff Description:
Three news organizations
Plaintiff Type(s):
Public Interest Lawyer: No
Filed Pro Se: No
Class Action Sought: No
Class Action Outcome: Not sought
Defendants
State
Idaho Department of Correction
Defendant Type(s):
Case Details
Causes of Action:
Ex parte Young (federal or state officials)
Constitutional Clause(s):
Other Dockets:
District of Idaho 1:24-cv-00587
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit 25-03312
Available Documents:
Injunctive (or Injunctive-like) Relief
Outcome
Prevailing Party: Plaintiff OR Mixed
Relief Sought:
Relief Granted:
Preliminary injunction / Temp. restraining order
Source of Relief:
Content of Injunction:
Issues
Death Penalty:
Case Summary of The Associated Press v. Tewalt, Civil Rights Litig. Clearinghouse, http://www.dev.clearinghouse.net/case/46533/ (last updated 3/8/2026).