AP and others challenge an Indiana law barring reporters from witnessing executions

The Associated Press and four other media companies argue in a federal lawsuit that Indiana's ban on reporters attending state-sanctioned executions violates the public's constitutional right to an independent and unsanitized description of a sensitive and contentious government action.

The complaint, filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Indianapolis, comes two weeks before the scheduled execution of Benjamin Ritchie, who was condemned for the September 2000 fatal shooting of Beech Grove Police Officer Bill Toney during a foot chase.

It maintains that the law omitting news media from the state's list of permitted witnesses improperly prevents the taxpayers from receiving an unbiased review of the death penalty's implementation.

“I don't think it's about wanting to witness this act — I'm sure it's not a pleasant experience,” said Kristopher Cundiff of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, which is representing the plaintiffs. “It's about having a representative standing in the shoes of the public to provide an account of what happened that comes from a neutral party.”

Named as defendants are Ron Neal, superintendent of Indiana State Prison in Michigan City, which houses the death chamber, and Lloyd Arnold, commissioner of the Indiana Department of Correction.

Department spokesperson Annie Goeller said she cannot comment on pending lawsuits.

Among 27 states with death penalty laws, Indiana is one of two that bar media witnesses. The other, Wyoming, has conducted just one execution in the last half-century.

The AP aims to attend every execution in the U.S. to provide an accurate and unconstrained description for taxpayers. The news organization has repeatedly been on hand to report botched attempts.

In December, Joseph Corcoran became the first person put to death in Indiana in 15 years because of a nationwide scarcity of lethal-injection drugs. Ritchie is scheduled for the death chamber on May 20. Five more await execution in Indiana, according to the lawsuit.

The media groups contend that the Indiana law violates the First Amendment's guarantee that the public has "a qualified right of access to certain government proceedings.”

It also notes that the law, which allows attendance by as many as five friends or relatives chosen by the condemned and up to eight members of the victim's family, improperly treats them more favorably than the media.

A hearing has not been scheduled.

Joining the AP in pressing the lawsuit are Gannett Co., the nation's largest local newspaper operation with Indiana outlets in Indianapolis, Lafayette, Bloomington and South Bend; and TEGNA Inc., which operates WTHR-13 in Indianapolis.

The other plaintiffs are Circle Broadcasting, whose WISH-TV is a statewide network, and States Newsroom, which operates the nonprofit Indiana Capital Chronicle.

It was the Capital Chronicle that ensured media representation at the December execution, as Corcoran chose one of its reporters as a witness.

This story was first published on May 6, 2025. It was updated on May 9, 2025, to correct the name of the lead plaintiffs’ attorney. He is Kristopher Cundiff, not Kristopher Cundriff.

FILE - A sign is posted outside of Indiana State Prison on Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024, in Michigan City, Ind. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley, File)

FILE - A guard stands in a tower at Indiana State Prison on Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024, in Michigan City, Ind. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley, File)

FILE - A sign is posted outside of Indiana State Prison on Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024, in Michigan City, Ind. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley, File)

The White House and a bipartisan group of governors are pressuring the operator of the mid-Atlantic power grid to take urgent steps to boost energy supply and curb price hikes, holding a Friday event aimed at addressing a rising concern among voters about the enormous amount of power used for artificial intelligence ahead of elections later this year.

The White House said its National Energy Dominance Council and the governors of several states, including Pennsylvania, Ohio and Virginia, want to try to compel PJM Interconnection to hold a power auction for tech companies to bid on contracts to build new power plants,

The Trump administration and governors will sign a statement of principles toward that end Friday. The plan was first reported by Bloomberg.

“Ensuring the American people have reliable and affordable electricity is one of President Trump’s top priorities, and this would deliver much-needed, long-term relief to the mid-Atlantic region," said Taylor Rogers, a White House spokeswoman.

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro is expected to be at the White House, a person familiar with Shapiro’s plans said, speaking on condition of anonymity ahead of the announcement. Shapiro, a Democrat, made his participation in Friday’s event contingent on including a provision to extend a limit on wholesale electricity price increases for the region’s consumers, the person said.

But the operator of the grid won't be there. “PJM was not invited. Therefore we would not attend,” said spokesperson Jeff Shields.

It was not immediately clear whether President Donald Trump would attend the event, which was not listed on his public schedule.

Trump and the governors are under pressure to insulate consumers and businesses alike from the costs of feeding Big Tech’s energy-hungry data centers. Meanwhile, more Americans are falling behind on their electricity bills.

Consumer advocates say ratepayers in the mid-Atlantic electricity grid — which encompasses all or parts of 13 states stretching from New Jersey to Illinois, as well as Washington, D.C. — are already paying billions of dollars in higher bills to underwrite the cost to supply power to data centers, some of them built, some not.

However, they also say that the billions of dollars that consumers are paying isn’t resulting in the construction of new power plants necessary to meet the rising demand.

Pivotal contests in November will be decided by communities that are home to fast-rising electric bills or fights over who’s footing the bill for the data centers that underpin the explosion in demand for artificial intelligence. In parts of the country, data centers are coming online faster than power plants can be built and connected to the grid.

Electricity costs were a key issue in last year's elections for governor in New Jersey and Virginia, a data center hotspot, and in Georgia, where Democrats ousted two Republican incumbents for seats on the state’s utility regulatory commission. Voters in New Jersey, Virginia, California and New York City all cited economic concerns as the top issue, as Democrats and Republicans gird for a debate over affordability in the intensifying midterm battle to control Congress.

Gas and electric utilities sought or won rate increases of more that $34 billion in the first three quarters of 2025, consumer advocacy organization PowerLines reported. That was more than double the same period a year earlier.

Meta's Stanton Springs Data Center is seen Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026, in Newton County, East of Atlanta. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)