Supreme Court tells Texas to let a condemned man's pastor touch him and pray aloud during execution
Source: Texas Tribune
U.S. Supreme Court tells Texas to let a condemned mans pastor touch him and pray aloud during execution
The Supreme Court ruled that the state likely violated death row inmate John Ramirezs religious liberties when it denied his request to have his pastor lay his hands on him and pray during his upcoming execution.
BY JOLIE MCCULLOUGH MARCH 24, 2022 1 HOUR AGO
{snip}
Texas likely violated the religious liberties of a death row prisoner when it denied the mans request to have his pastor touch him and pray over him during his execution, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Thursday.
In an 8-1 opinion written by Chief Justice John Roberts, the high court found that Texas policy disallowing John Ramirezs request was an unnecessary burden to a religious exercise. Justice Clarence Thomas was the lone dissenter.
[Texas fails] to show that a categorical ban on audible prayer is the least restrictive means of furthering this compelling interest, and they do not explain why other jurisdictions can accommodate audible prayer but Texas cannot feasibly do so, Roberts wrote in the majority opinion.
Ramirezs execution, originally set for September but halted while the court weighed the case, can now be rescheduled, providing the Texas prison system changes its policy to allow touch and prayer in the death chamber.
{snip}
Read more: https://www.texastribune.org/2022/03/24/supreme-court-john-ramirez/
Texas Tribune Retweeted
Only Justice Thomas disagreed. Article by
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The Supreme Court ruled that the state likely violated death row inmate John Ramirezs religious liberties when it denied his request to have his pastor lay his
Ocelot II
(115,267 posts)and Thomas is an asshole.
Gore1FL
(21,027 posts)oldsoftie
(12,410 posts)winstars
(4,213 posts)Midnight Writer
(21,546 posts)Coventina
(26,844 posts)Jilly_in_VA
(9,852 posts)and he objects to last rites, which include anointing? Shame on you, Clarence. You don't understand your own faith.
colorado_ufo
(5,715 posts)the thief that was executed with him who asked for forgiveness and to the Roman soldiers who carried out the execution and gambled for the possession of his robe. Having a person of faith pray for and touch a condemned man or woman costs the state nothing and is within the person's rights.
I am glad that the Supreme Court verified this.
dchill
(38,315 posts)LiberalFighter
(50,480 posts)mahatmakanejeeves
(56,886 posts)Also, his clerks have been drafting the dissent for several weeks, I suppose.
tanyev
(42,356 posts)dchill
(38,315 posts)... it'd be a twofer!
dalton99a
(81,065 posts)during execution