Top US court backs right to be touched at execution by pastor

The US Supreme Court has ruled in favour of a Texas inmate who argued it is his right to have his pastor touch him and offer a prayer during his execution.

The inmate, John Henry Ramirez, successfully argued that the state’s policy of not allowing spiritual advisers to touch inmates during executions is a violation of their rights under the Constitution of the United States.

In a majority opinion for the Supreme Court, Chief Justice John Roberts noted that Texas “appears to have long allowed prison chaplains to pray with inmates in the execution chamber” and had only prohibited the practice in 2019.