By Pete Williams -
NBC News
WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court will consider this Tuesday whether the Constitution gives prisoners to be executed the right to have spiritual advisers in the death chamber who can pray aloud and be in physical contact with them.
The court took up the case after blocking the execution of a Texas inmate, John Henry Ramírez, whose lethal injection was scheduled for early September.
The prisoner alleged that the State had violated his religious rights by refusing to allow his pastor to pray aloud with him or to carry out a tradition known as the laying on of hands.
[The Supreme Court will not block the execution of a man who fears an egregious death]
The court has shown growing concern in recent years over claims that states were denying religious freedom to inmates facing the death penalty, and Texas has repeatedly adjusted its protocols.
The court in 2019 blocked the execution of another Texas inmate who said his religious freedom had been violated because his Buddhist spiritual advisor was not allowed to be by his side.
In response, Texas banned all spiritual advisers from the execution chamber.
Last year, the court stayed the execution of a state inmate who challenged the non-adviser policy, prompting the state government to change its policy again, maintaining a ban on praying out loud and physical contact.
Ramírez said that both he and his pastor believe that people ascend to heaven or descend to damnation at the moment of death.
Denying your pastor traditional ministrations is a violation of religious freedom, he noted.
The traditions are deeply rooted in Ramírez's sincere religious beliefs and "reflect the fundamental importance of prayer, song and human contact as powerful expressions of the Christian faith," his attorney alleged in court documents.
[Alabama executes a prisoner whom his lawyers considered disabled]
Texas allows spiritual advisers to pray and counsel inmates until they are led to the lethal injection chamber.
Preventing inmates from speaking or touching thereafter preserves the execution team's ability to detect signs of distress, depending on the state.
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The protocol balances many factors, according to Texas attorneys to the Supreme Court, including “maintaining uniformity in executions to reduce the possibility of errors, security and privacy of execution staff, inmate rights, and lockdown. for the victim's family and the community ”.
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Allowing an outsider to touch an inmate "poses an unacceptable risk to the security, integrity and solemnity of execution," the state alleged.
Nine states - Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Idaho, Indiana, Louisiana, Montana, South Dakota and Utah - urged the court to side with Texas.
"The security of state enforcement protocols should not be subject to micromanagement by federal courts," they stated in a brief supporting the court.
However, several faith-based organizations, including the U.S. Conference of Bishops, noted that the Texas ban places a burden on religious freedom not only for inmates, but also for their pastors in taking action. key to ministry.
[First woman executed in nearly 70 years in the US]
Ramírez was sentenced to death for fatally stabbing a man during a drug store robbery.
He fled to Mexico, but was arrested and brought back to stand trial.
The Supreme Court is likely to issue its ruling before July.
