The state of Idaho and a group of Idaho news media have agreed that all Idaho executions should be open to media witnesses from start to finish, ending a lawsuit brought by the media, and the state has paid the news media's attorney fees and costs of more than $29,000 for the suit. Both sides in the lawsuit today filed a stipulation in federal court declaring that the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruling in the case settles the issues raised, and should be the practice for all future Idaho executions; the appellate court sided with the media.

The stipulation, submitted today to U.S. District Judge Edward Lodge, says witnesses to executions in Idaho will "observe the entire execution from the moment the inmate enters the execution chamber through, to and including, the time the inmate is declared dead." The two sides also agreed that the state should pay the news media's attorney fees and costs for the case, which came to $29,297; that has now been paid.

The lawsuit was brought by 16 Idaho news outlets and organizations, led by the Associated Press, and also including the Idaho Press Club and The Spokesman-Review. The media groups charged that the state’s execution witness access rules, which prohibited witnesses, including the news media, from seeing the early portions of lethal injection executions, directly violated a 2002 9th Circuit decision. The court agreed. You can read my full story here at spokesman.com.