Following a gruesome “botched” execution of an inmate last month, a coalition of newspapers—backed by the world’s largest news agency—has filed suit against the state of Oklahoma for refusing to disclose details about the origin and contents of the drugs it is using to perform the death penalty in the state.

Filed in an Oklahoma court on Thursday, the suit (pdf)—brought by the Kansas City Star, the Springfield News-Leade, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the Guardian, and the Associated Press news agency—is unusual as it makes a First Amendment argument against state officials who have refused requests to say what kind of drugs are being used, where they are being produced, and under what conditions.

According to the Guardian, the suit is believed to be the first in which “the first amendment right of access [to information] has been used to challenge secrecy in the application of the death penalty.”

On April 29th, outrage and horror ensued after Clayton Lockett, a convicted murderer, was “tortured to death” after the supposed lethal dose of an undisclosed “cocktail” of drugs failed to work. Lockett took more than 43 minutes to die and did so only after “writhing” in pain, “clenching his teeth” and was ultimately killed by a massive heart attack that occurred after the “procedure” was called off.

Click Here: All Blacks Rugby Jersey

The violent and disturbing episode served to highlight the increasing trend among states that continue to employ the death penalty of concealing the origin of the drugs they are administering.

As Richard Dieter of the Death Penalty Information Center, explained to the Guardian: “This is like the government building bridges, and trying to hide the identity of the company that makes the bolts… Those involved in public service should expect public scrutiny in order to root out problems, particular when the state is carrying out the most intimate act possible – killing people.”

The next scheduled execution in the Oklahoma is Russell Bucklew on May 21.