The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that condemned prisoners have a right to meaningful access to prayer during their last moments.
The ruling …
The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that condemned prisoners have a right to meaningful access to prayer during their last moments. The ruling came in a case, Ramirez v. Collier, regarding a request by John Henry Ramirez for permission to have his spiritual adviser, a Southern Baptist pastor, prayer over him in the execution chamber. « Even the condemned have a right to get right with God, » explained Eric Rassbach, vice president at Becket, which filed an amicus brief in the case. « The Supreme Court correctly recognized that allowing clergy to minister to the condemned in their last moments stands squarely within a history stretching back to George Washington and before. That tradition matters. » Rassbach’s organization had argued in court that the Texas Department of Criminal Justice is required to let prisoners have the right to meaningful clergy access. The Washington Examiner noted the ruling set « a broader precedent for religious rights of incarcerated individuals.
