in a Judges urged to reject stay of executionTexas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican, said Mr. Ramirez was involved in the litigation game. For example, Mr. Paxton wrote, Mr. Ramirez at one point requested that the pastor be present and did not need to be touched.
The Supreme Court has taken a variety of approaches in cases in which death row inmates have requested the presence of their spiritual advisors during their execution,
In 2019, for example, the court 5 to 4 . votes are allowed Execution of an Alabama prisoner, Dominic Ray, a Muslim whose request was rejected in the presence of his imam. At the time, Alabama only allowed a Christian chaplain working in the prison system to provide spiritual guidance to convicted prisoners during their last moments.
Judge Elena Kagan, who wrote to dissidents in 2019, said the majority were “deeply mistaken”. Under Alabama policy, she wrote, “a Christian prisoner may have a minister of his faith accompany him to the execution chamber to say his last rites.”
“But if an inmate practices a different religion – whether it is Islam, Judaism, or any other religion – he may not die with a minister of his religion at his side,” Judge Kagan wrote.
A few weeks later, the court faced a similar case from Texas and came to a different conclusion, moratorium on execution For a Buddhist inmate whose request for his spiritual advisor to be present in the execution chamber was refused.
in a Brief and unsigned order, the court said Texas cannot execute prisoner Patrick H. Murphy, “unless the state permits Murphy’s Buddhist spiritual advisor or any other Buddhist priest of the state’s choice to accompany Murphy in the execution room during the execution.”
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