69 Am. U. L. Rev. F. 125 (2020).

* Junior Staff Member, American University Law Review, Volume 69; J.D. Candidate, May 2021, American University Washington College of Law; B.A. Law and Society, 2018, American University. I would like to thank the entire Law Review staff for their valuable assistance in preparing this piece for publication. I would also like to thank Sister Ann Regan and Professor Robert Johnson, who were instrumental in exposing me to the injustices on death row and teaching me the importance of advocating for the rights, and more importantly, the human dignity of every person. Finally, I would like to thank my family and Nicholas. Only because of their steadfast support and unconditional love have I had the opportunity to learn and advocate.

Freedom of religion was considered one of the most fundamental rights during the founding of the United States. Recently, states have expanded this freedom in numerous areas, but Texas is limiting this paramount freedom among its condemned inmates. Originally, Texas permitted only Christian and Muslim inmates to be accompanied into the execution chambers by their spiritual advisors. However, when Patrick Murphy, a Buddhist inmate, challenged Texas’s policy a few weeks before his execution date in March, the Supreme Court stayed his execution because the policy of accommodating inmates of just two religions violated the Establishment Clause. In response, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice altered its policy to prohibit all spiritual advisors from accompanying inmates into the execution chambers. This new policy violates the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment and the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act. Consequently, Texas should revise its policy again to permit spiritual advisors to accompany all religious inmates into the chambers during their executions.