The U.S. Supreme Court
State
the Supreme Court
Texas Department of Criminal Justice
the Polunsky Unit
the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals
the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles
store."He
NBC UNIVERSAL
Patrick Murphy's
Brett Kavanaugh
Jeremy Desel
Aubrey Hawkins
Randy Halprin
Dominique Ray
David Dow
Jeff Newberry
Toby Shook
Buddhist
Christian
Muslim
Islamic
South Texas
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HUNTSVILLE
Texas
Dallas
Huntsville
Irving
Colorado
U.S.
Alabama
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"The government may not discriminate against religion generally or against particular religious denominations."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."What the State may not do, in my view, is allow Christian or Muslim inmates but not Buddhist inmates to have a religious adviser of their religion in the execution room," the justice said.Kavanaugh did not hear any death penalty cases in his 12 years as an appeals court judge joining the Supreme Court.Texas Department of Criminal Justice spokesman Jeremy Desel the state would review the ruling to determine how to respond.Desel said Murphy would be returned from the Huntsville Unit prison, where executions are carried out, to the Polunsky Unit, about 45 miles to the east, where death row inmates are imprisoned."I knew there was a thin thread of possibility," a smiling Murphy said from a holding cell just a few feet from the death chamber after he was told by the warden he received a reprieve.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.
As said here by Associated Press