Attorneys for Patrick Murphy, who was convicted of the fatal shooting of a Dallas police officer, argued that prison officials’ efforts to prevent their client from having his Buddhist spiritual adviser present for his execution violated his First Amendment rights
A member of the “Texas 7” gang of escaped prisoners won a reprieve Thursday night from execution for the fatal shooting of a suburban Dallas police officer after claiming his religious freedom would be violated if his Buddhist spiritual adviser wasn’t allowed to be in the death chamber with him.
Kavanaugh said Texas can’t move forward with Murphy’s punishment unless the state permits his Buddhist adviser or another Buddhist reverend of the state’s choosing to accompany Murphy in the chamber during the execution. Texas officials argued to the court, citing security concerns, that only chaplains who had been extensively vetted by the prison system were allowed within the chamber. While Christian and Muslim chaplains were available, no Buddhist priest was. Prison officials allowed Murphy to visit with his spiritual adviser for about 40 minutes Thursday afternoon.
Murphy would have been the fourth inmate put to death this year in the U.S. and the third executed in Texas, the nation’s busiest capital punishment state.In February, the Supreme Court rejected a request from a Muslim death row inmate in Alabama to have his Islamic spiritual adviser be present in the execution chamber. Dominique Ray, who was executed, also argued his religious rights were violated because Alabama allows a Christian chaplain employed by the prison to be in the execution chamber.
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