U.S. Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Texas Death Row Inmate

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that an inmate on death row had the right to have a clergy member present and touching the inmate at the time of their execution.

According to multiple reports, on Mar. 24, the Supreme Court ruled 8-1 in favor of the side of Texas Death Row inmate John Henry Ramirez. Ramirez sued the state of Texas after he was denied the right to have his spiritual advisor present during his execution.

“Texas appears to have long allowed prison chaplains to pray with inmates in the execution chamber, deciding to prohibit such prayer only in the last several years,” stated Chief Justice John Robertson in an exert from the majority opinion. “Texas could allow touch on a part of the body away from IV lines, such as a prisoner’s lower leg.”

Texas executions as a whole have been on hold since Ramirez sued the state in Sep. 2021.

Ramirez, who won the battle but will still be executed, is on death row for stabbing a convenience store  clerk 29 times. During the robbery he only received $1.50.