Edit: Sanitizing Idaho Executions

Let’s set the record straight: The Associated Press and 16 Idaho news organizations, including the Lewiston Tribune and Moscow-Pullman Daily News, are not trying to change how executions are conducted in this country. No, it’s the state of Idaho that wants to change the rules. And those rules worked like this: After American executions retreated completely behind prison walls in the 1930s, reporters became witnesses, serving as proxies for the public. As executions evolved from hangings and firing squads to electric chairs and gas chambers, the process was the same. Witnesses watched the condemned inmate enter the execution chamber. They saw him led to the gallows or strapped down to a chair. His demeanor was clearly observed throughout. So was the behavior of the execution squad. The execution - whether instantaneous or botched - occurred in the open. You could turn your eyes away, but what happened was a matter of public record/Marty Trillhaase, Lewiston Tribune. More here . (AP file photo: Execution chamber where Paul Ezra Rhoades died last fall)

Question: Should reporters be allowed to witness the entire execution process in Idaho?