Law Offices of Seth Kretzer: Statement Regarding U.S. Supreme Court Ruling in 'Ramirez v. Collier'

HOUSTON, March 24, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- In response to today's U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Ramirez v. Collier, Seth Kretzer, who argued at the Court for Texas death row inmate John Henry Ramirez, issued the following statement:

"The Supreme Court clarified that the rule of law is as ubiquitous as God. Both exist everywhere and always — high up in the hallowed halls of power and down low in the hell of the execution chamber. Banning prayer by clergy members will not be permitted under the American legal system in even the most dejected square foot of this country. We look forward to prevailing in the forthcoming litigation about the issue of whether Mr. Ramirez's pastor may safely touch him during execution just as prison-employed chaplains have done in every execution over the past 37 years. After an 8-1 Supreme Court loss, the time has come for the State of Texas to end its failed, taxpayer-funded battle against prayer."

Ramirez alleges that state prison officials would violate federal law and Christian traditions by refusing to allow his pastor to be present and directly minister to him when he dies by lethal injection. Ramirez, who is awaiting execution for a 2004 murder in Nueces County, filed suit in Houston federal court in 2021 to force the Texas Department of Criminal Justice to allow ordained Baptist pastor Dana Moore to "lay hands" on Ramirez as he dies in the prison execution chamber. Moore, who was approved by prison officials to attend previously scheduled executions for Ramirez, has counseled and visited him in prison for about five years.

The lawsuit alleged violations of the First Amendment's Free Exercise Clause and the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000 – and a prison policy break from 560 Texas executions from 1982 to 2019 that allowed the execution chamber presence of pre-screened, TDCJ-approved religious advisers. Since 2019, when the U.S. Supreme Court struck down TDCJ's protocol for execution attendance after a dispute with a Buddhist prisoner, state prison officials have repeatedly revised the execution attendance protocol for religious advisers. In April 2021, Ramirez was notified that Moore, the pastor of Baptist Church in Corpus Christi, Texas, would not be allowed to be present at the execution. Grievances filed by Ramirez were denied by the TDCJ.

The Ramirez lawsuit sought a declaratory judgment that TDCJ's amended policy violates Ramirez's First Amendment rights under the Free Exercise Clause, a declaratory judgment that TDCJ's amended policy violates Mr. Ramirez's rights under RLUIPA, and a preliminary and permanent injunction prohibiting state prison officials from executing Ramirez until they can do so in a way that does not violate his rights.

The underlying case is, "John Henry Ramirez vs. Bryan Collier, Executive Director, Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Huntsville, Texas, et al.," Case No. 4:21-cv-2609 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, Houston Division.

CONTACT: Erin Powers, Powers MediaWorks LLC, for the Law Offices of Seth Kretzer, 281.703.6000, [email protected].

SOURCE Law Offices of Seth Kretzer

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