The chaplain kneels and prays with inmates who seek pastoral care, the officials said. After considering Mr. Ray’s request, prison officials agreed to exclude the chaplain. Ray does not dispute that the state has an interest in enforcing its judgments,” they wrote. “Ray has put forward a powerful claim that his religious rights will be violated at the moment the state puts him to death,” she wrote. Instead, this court short-circuits that ordinary process — and itself rejects the claim with little briefing and no argument — just so the state can meet its preferred execution date.”

Source: New York Times February 08, 2019 03:00 UTC