John Henry Ramirez’s lawsuit reveals how rules around executions – from last meals to last words – are shaped by custom and sometimes spite rather than rights
John Henry Ramirez does not want to die alone. The Texas prisoner knows that at his execution, scheduled for Wednesday evening, he will be able to see witnesses through a pane of glass. A stoic prison official will probably be standing near his head. But as a devout Protestant Christian, he wants his pastor to lay a hand on him as he dies.
“It’s part of my faith – there’s so much about the power of touch,” Ramirez told the Marshall Project during an interview last week. “You bless someone at the time of their most spiritual need.”