The Supreme Court sided with a Texas death row inmate who wants his personal pastor to be present, praying, and in physical contact with his body during administration of the lethal drugs that will end his life. The justices voted 8-1, finding that John Henry Ramirez, 37, was likely to succeed on his claim that Texas’s restrictions on religious touch and audible prayer in the execution chamber violate the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA). Ramirez argued in his petition to the Supreme Court that Texas was depriving him of his constitutional right to exercise his religion and running afoul of RLUIPA. “The right of a condemned person to the comfort of clergy—and the corresponding right of clergy to comfort the condemned—are among the longest-standing and most well-recognized religious exercises known to civilization,” the petition stated. Texas Solicitor General Judd E. Stone II had argued that Ramirez was wasting everyone’s time trying …
Supreme Court Sides With Convicted Murderer in Texas Seeking ‘Comfort of Clergy’ at Execution
March 24, 2022
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Crime and Incidentsdeath penaltyFirst AmendmentJudiciaryPolicies & ImpactsRegional-Local NewsReligious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons ActSupreme CourtTexasUncategorizedUS
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