The Supreme Court halted the execution of a man scheduled to be given a lethal injection Wednesday night after agreeing to consider his request to have his pastor vocalize prayers and lay hands on him in the death chamber. John Henry Ramirez, 37, was scheduled to be executed for the 2004 slaying of Pablo Castro, a convenience store worker. Ramirez’s legal team has argued that not allowing his pastor to touch him and pray aloud as he dies is a violation of religious freedom; one of his lawyers called the denial a spiritual “gag order.” Ramirez’s case is scheduled to be argued this fall.
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