The Supreme Court heard arguments on Tuesday about whether Texas should allow a pastor to pray audibly and touch a prisoner during execution, prompting justices to pose an array of questions over the relatively simple religious request.
Executions in the Lone Star State are temporarily suspended while the court considers the matter. The outcome will make clear which religious accommodations officials are required to provide for inmates on death row.
Justices listened to arguments over the case of John Henry Ramirez, who is on death row for killing a convenience store worker during a 2004 robbery in Corpus Christi. Ramirez killed Pablo Castro, stabbing him 29 times. A lawsuit was filed by Ramirez’s attorneys after the state said it would not allow a chaplain to pray aloud and touch him as he received a lethal injection. As a result, the Supreme Court halted his Sept. 8 execution until they make a decision.
Ramirez v. Collier emerged shortly after the Texas Justice Department implemented two rules this year forbidding clergy from praying aloud or touching an inmate in the execution chamber. Pastors or religious advisers may stand in a separate room during executions, where family members and the press typically stand.
Associate Justice Clarence Thomas questioned whether Ramirez is “gaming the system” with his request and furthered his surprisingly skeptical position, questioning “the sincerity of his religious beliefs.” Texas has argued Ramirez’s request is an attempt to delay his execution, according to a brief of the legal challenge.
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Justices Samuel Alito and Brett Kavanaugh also posed skeptical arguments, with Alito cautioning a decision in favor of the petitioner could lead to an “unending stream of variations.” Kavanaugh furthered Alito’s point, presenting a hypothetical scenario where another petitioner could argue they need two spiritual advisers present in the execution room.
But Justice Elena Kagan deferred a string of recent executions, citing that of the 13 most recent prisoners put to death in the United States, 11 had spiritual advisers present. Lawyers for the Justice Department said those requests were managed “informally,” meaning they did not require a court case similar to the one analyzed on Tuesday.
Barrett understood the state’s argument that it wants “risk to be zero because the consequences of a botched execution are quite high.” Kavanaugh backed her position, noting prison lawyers are concerned about “catastrophic” harm that could emerge if something goes wrong with a spiritual adviser in an execution room.
The Supreme Court has approached the issue of religious ministers in the death chamber in several cases. Two inmates asked justices in 2019 to halt their executions over states’ refusal to allow their spiritual adviser in the execution room. One inmate was permitted, but the other was not.
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Texas allows state-employed religious advisers to be in the room but only employs Christian and Muslim advisers, not allowing other faith ministers to enter. This prevented inmate Patrick Murphy from having a Buddhist adviser, and Kavanaugh wrote in 2019 that he was not treated equally.
