Associated Press v. Ron Neal

── Associated Press v. Ron Neal ── Court: Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit Date: June 05, 2026 Category: General In the United States Court of Appeals For the Seventh Circuit ____________________ No. 25-2025 ASSOCIATED PRESS, et al., Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. RON NEAL and LLOYD ARNOLD, Defendants-Appellees. ____________________ Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, Indianapolis Division. No. 1:25-cv-00872-MPB-MJD — Matthew P. Brookman, Judge. ____________________ ARGUED FEBRUARY 18, 2026 — DECIDED JUNE 5, 2026 ____________________ Before SCUDDER, JACKSON-AKIWUMI, and PRYOR, Circuit Judges. SCUDDER, Circuit Judge. Indiana permits a select few groups of people to attend executions. Members of the public may attend only if the offender invites them. The same rule applies to the media. Several media groups challenged this policy on First Amendment grounds and moved for a prelim- inary injunction to allow them to view forthcoming execu- tions. The district court denied the motion, and we affirm. 2 No. 25-2025 I Indiana allows only the following people to attend execu- tions: (1) the state prison warden; (2) those assisting in the ex- ecution; (3) the prison physician; (4) one other physician; (5) the inmate’s spiritual advisor; (6) the prison chaplain; (7) up to five people invited by the inmate to attend; and (8) up to eight of the victim’s immediate adult family members. See Ind. Code § 35-38-6-6(a). The State’s Department of Correction has adopted “appro- priate guidelines to enable the Indiana State Prison to comply with state statutes governing the administration of the death penalty.” ISP 06-26: Execution of Death Sentence (June 17, 2024), Dkt. 9, App. 16; see also Ind. Code § 35-38-6-1(d) (authorizing the adoption of rules). Those guidelines instruct the Depart- ment’s Commissioner to designate a staff person who will as- sist with media leading up to the execution. See ISP 06-26 at 3. They also authorize members of the media to remain in a designated area outside of the execution chamber until the ex- ecution ends. See id. The guidelines clarify that “[m]edia per- sonnel shall not be permitted to witness the execution” unless the prisoner includes them on “the list of five … persons” in- vited to witness the execution. Id. No aspect of the Indiana statute or the Department of Cor- rection implementing guidelines restrain media reporting on executions. Journalists remain free to interview witnesses, re- port on any aspect of the proceeding, and comment as they wish on the State’s choice to allow capital punishment or to execute a particular person. In May 2025, the plaintiff media outlets invoked 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and sued the Superintendent of the Indiana State No. 25-2025 3 Prison and the Commissioner of the Indiana Department of Correction in their official capacities. They raised two as- applied claims. They alleged that Indiana’s policy violates their qualified First Amendment right of access to certain government proceedings. They also contended that the State’s policy violates the Press Clause of the First Amendment by unfavorably singling out members of the press. Their complaint sought declaratory and injunctive relief. A week later the plaintiffs moved for a preliminary injunc- tion. They asked the district court to enjoin enforcement of Section 35-38-6-6(a) of the Indiana Code and to order that they may attend any Indiana execution carried out before the entry of judgment in this case. The district court denied the motion, concluding that the plaintiffs had failed to show a likelihood of success on the merits for either claim. As to the right-