Ramirez v. Collier
| Decision Date | 24 March 2022 |
| Docket Number | 21-5592 |
| Citation | 142 S.Ct. 1264 |
| Parties | John H. RAMIREZ, Petitioner v. Bryan COLLIER, Executive Director, Texas Department of Criminal Justice, et al. |
| Court | U.S. Supreme Court |
Seth Kretzer, Houston, TX, for Petitioner
Judd E. Stone, II, Solicitor General, for Respondents.
Eric J. Feigin, Deputy Solicitor General, for the United States as amicus curiae, by special leave of the Court, in support of neither party.
Ken Paxton, Attorney General of Texas, Brent Webster, First Assistant Attorney General, Office of the Attorney General, Austin, TX, Judd E. Stone II, Solicitor General, Counsel of Record, Lanora C. Pettit, Principal Deputy Solicitor General, Ari Cuenin, Natalie D. Thompson Eric J. Hamilton, Assistant Solicitors General, for Respondents.
Erin Glenn Busby, Lisa R. Eskow, Michael F. Sturley, University of Texas School of Law Supreme Court Clinic, Austin, TX, Eric J. Allen, Allen Law Offices, Columbus, OH, Seth Kretzer, Counsel of Record, Law Offices of Seth Kretzer, Houston, TX, for Petitioner.
A Texas jury sentenced John Ramirez to death for the brutal murder of Pablo Castro. In this litigation, Ramirez does not challenge his conviction. Nor does he challenge his sentence. He asks instead that his long-time pastor be allowed to pray with him and lay hands on him while he is being executed. He says that the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000 (RLUIPA), 114 Stat. 803, 42 U.S.C. § 2000cc et seq. , requires this accommodation. Ramirez sought a preliminary injunction ordering Texas to permit his religious exercise if the State went forward with his execution. The District Court and Court of Appeals declined to grant such relief. We then stayed the execution and granted certiorari.
Pablo Castro worked the night shift at the Times Market convenience store in Corpus Christi, Texas. On July 19, 2004, Castro was outside closing up when Ramirez and an accomplice approached him with a knife. Ramirez stabbed Castro 29 times, searched his pockets, and made off with $1.25. Castro died on the pavement, leaving behind 9 children and 14 grandchildren.
Ramirez fled to Mexico, where he evaded authorities for more than three years. In 2008, he was finally apprehended near the Mexican border. Texas charged Ramirez with murdering Castro in the course of committing or attempting to commit robbery—a capital offense. See Tex. Penal Code Ann. § 19.03(a)(2) (West 2019). Ramirez admitted to killing Castro, but denied the robbery that made the murder a capital crime. A jury disagreed, found Ramirez guilty, and sentenced him to death. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed Ramirez's conviction and sentence on direct appeal. See Ramirez v. State , No. AP–76100, 2011 WL 1196886 (Mar. 16, 2011). Ramirez's attempts to collaterally attack his conviction in state and federal court also proved unsuccessful. See Ramirez v. Davis , 780 Fed.Appx. 110, 112–114 (C.A.5 2019) (), cert. denied, 589 U.S. ––––, 140 S.Ct. 1273, 206 L.Ed.2d 259 (2020).
Texas scheduled Ramirez's execution for February 2, 2017. Less than a week before that date, Ramirez moved to stay the execution, arguing that his habeas counsel had rendered constitutionally ineffective assistance. The District Court granted a stay, but later rejected Ramirez's claim. The Fifth Circuit then declined to issue a certificate of appealability. See Ramirez , 780 Fed.Appx. 110. Still, this last-minute litigation had the effect of delaying Ramirez's execution for several years.
Texas rescheduled Ramirez's execution for September 9, 2020. Ramirez then asked to have his pastor accompany him into the execution chamber. Prison officials denied the request. They did so because, at the time, Texas's execution protocol barred all spiritual advisors from entering the chamber. App. 60. A prior version of the protocol had allowed access for prison chaplains. Ibid. But Texas employed only Christian and Muslim chaplains. In 2019, when a Buddhist inmate sought to have his spiritual advisor join him in the execution chamber, Texas declined to grant the accommodation. We stayed that execution pending certiorari, unless the State allowed a Buddhist spiritual advisor into the execution chamber. Murphy v. Collier , 587 U.S. ––––, 139 S.Ct. 1475, 203 L.Ed.2d 633 (2019). In response, Texas amended its execution protocol to bar all chaplains from entering the execution chamber, so as not to discriminate among religions. See Brief for Respondents 4–5; App. 111.
Ramirez filed suit, arguing that Texas's new execution protocol violated his rights under the First Amendment and RLUIPA. Ramirez's complaint said that he was a Christian and had received religious guidance from Pastor Dana Moore since 2016. Id. , at 61. Pastor Moore serves the Second Baptist Church in Corpus Christi, of which Ramirez is a member. Ramirez explained that he wanted his pastor "to be present at the time of his execution to pray with him and provide spiritual comfort and guidance in his final moments." Ibid. Ramirez's complaint focused on prayer and explained that his pastor "need not touch [him] at any time in the execution chamber." Ibid.
Texas withdrew Ramirez's death warrant before there were any further filings. As a result, the parties jointly agreed to dismiss the litigation without prejudice.
On February 5, 2021, Texas informed Ramirez that his new execution date would be September 8, 2021. Ramirez then filed a Step 1 prison grievance requesting that he "be allowed to have [his] spiritual advisor present in the death chamber." Id. , at 50–51. Texas again denied the request, but later changed course, amending its execution protocol to permit a prisoner's spiritual advisor to be present in the execution chamber. See id. , at 133–152.
Our decisions in Gutierrez v. Saenz , 590 U.S. ––––, 141 S.Ct. 127, 207 L.Ed.2d 1075 (2020), and Dunn v. Smith , 592 U.S. ––––, 141 S.Ct. 725, 209 L.Ed.2d 30 (2021), seem to have precipitated the change. Both cases concerned prisoner requests to have a spiritual advisor present in the execution chamber. And in both cases, we declined to allow the executions to proceed unless the inmate was granted that accommodation. Justice KAVANAUGH, dissenting in Dunn , explained that States wishing to avoid such stays "should figure out a way to allow spiritual advisors into the execution room, as other States and the Federal Government have done." Id. , at ––––, 141 S.Ct., at 727.
Texas's 2021 Execution Protocol did just that. It allows a prisoner's spiritual advisor to enter the execution chamber, accompanied by a prison security escort. This accommodation is subject to various procedural requirements. See App. 133–137. For instance, the prisoner must notify the warden of his choice of spiritual advisor within 30 days of learning his execution date. Id. , at 134. Additionally, the spiritual advisor must pass a background check and undergo training. Id. , at 136. And if the spiritual advisor is "disruptive," he is subject to "immediate removal." Id. , at 149. The protocol says nothing about whether a spiritual advisor may pray aloud or touch an inmate for comfort. But Texas had long allowed its own prison chaplains to engage in such activities during executions, and it was against this backdrop that Texas enacted the new policy. See Brief for Petitioner 29–33; Brief for Former Prison Officials as Amici Curiae 2–11.
On June 11, 2021, Ramirez filed the grievance that is at the center of this case. Having successfully petitioned the State to allow his pastor into the execution chamber, he requested that his pastor be permitted to "lay hands" on him and "pray over" him while the execution was taking place. App. 52–53. Ramirez's grievance explains that it is "part of my faith to have my spiritual advisor lay hands on me anytime I am sick or dying." Id. , at 52. Texas denied the grievance on July 2, 2021. It said that spiritual advisors are "not allowed to touch an inmate while inside the execution chamber," though it did not point to any provision of its execution protocol requiring this result. Id. , at 53.
Ramirez appealed within the prison system by filing a Step 2 grievance on July 8, 2021. Id. , at 155–156. But with less than a month to go until his September 8 execution date, prison officials had still not ruled on that appeal. So on August 10 he filed suit in Federal District Court. Ramirez alleged that the refusal of prison officials to allow Pastor Moore to lay hands on him in the execution chamber violated his rights under RLUIPA and the First Amendment. Ramirez sought preliminary and permanent injunctive relief barring state officials from executing him unless they granted the religious accommodation.
On August 16, 2021, Ramirez's attorney inquired whether Pastor Moore would be allowed to pray audibly with Ramirez during the execution. Prison officials responded three days later that the pastor would not. Id. , at 85–86. So on August 22 Ramirez filed an amended complaint seeking an injunction that would allow Pastor Moore to lay hands on him and pray with him during the execution. Id. , at 95–102.
Ramirez also sought a stay of execution while the District Court considered his claims. The District Court denied the request, as did the Fifth Circuit. See 10 F.4th 561 (C.A.5 2021) (per curiam ). Judge Dennis dissented. In his view, Ramirez's RLUIPA claims were likely to succeed because the prison's policies burdened religious exercise and were not the least restrictive means of furthering the State's compelling interest in the security of the execution. Id. , at 566–568.
We then stayed Ramirez's execution, granted certiorari, and heard argument on an expedited basis. See 594 U.S. ––––, 142 S.Ct. 50, 210 L.Ed.2d 1019 (2021). Ramirez's certiorari petition asked us to determine whether Texas's restrictions on religious touch and audible prayer violate either RLUIPA...
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