You may remember a few days ago, a Texas death row inmate named Patrick Murphy had his execution stayed by the Supreme Court:
Hours after his execution was originally scheduled to begin, the U.S Supreme Court on Thursday stopped the death of one of the infamous "Texas Seven."
The high court granted Patrick Murphy's last appeal, which said the Texas Department of Criminal Justice violated his religious rights by not allowing a Buddhist chaplain into the execution chamber with him. The department only allows prison employees in the death chamber, and only Christian and Muslim clerics are employed with the state.
So, here at least, Texas was slightly better than Alabama, which only allows Christian chaplains into the execution chamber.
But, never fear, given this ruling, Texas responded in a perfectly Texas manner:
Less than a week after a condemned prisoner won a last-minute stay from the U.S. Supreme Court because prison officials wouldn't let him have his Buddhist spiritual adviser in the execution chamber, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice has retooled its execution policy to ban all chaplains from the room.
. . .
[T]he court victory didn't mean Murphy would be spared the ultimate punishment forever; it just meant that his religious discrimination claims could move ahead in court, unless the Texas prison system took steps to resolve the problem.
One choice would have been to allow other spiritual advisers in the room at the time of death, but instead the prison system chose to rewrite its protocol so that no spiritual advisers are in the room. Now, only prison security staff can be in the death chamber. Religious advisers are still allowed to observe from the witness rooms just outside, and can consult with the condemned in the hours before the scheduled lethal injection.
Of course, the likelihood that Texas will do the right thing—that is, get rid of the death penalty entirely—is close to zero. In the meantime, though, it doesn’t surprise me that they chose the least humane alternative.