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No Execution: Court Sides With Inmate Wanting Pastor Present
posted on February 16, 2021Kim Chandler of the Associated Press reports, “An Alabama inmate won a reprieve from a planned lethal injection after the U.S. Supreme Court said the state must allow his personal pastor in the death chamber.” Justice Amy Coney Barrett sided with Elena Kagan and two other justices to affirm Smith’s request for his pastor to be present, which the state of Alabama does not allow due to security concerns. Smith’s lawyers wrote, “Mr. Smith pled that he believes that the point of transition between life and death is important, and that having his spiritual advisor physically present at that moment is integral to his faith.” The execution is postponed while the state reviews its options.