Supreme Court rules Alabama may not execute an inmate without his pastor present

[Donerail]

Strange case. Why did not the executioners want to allow a pastor in the room?

Security reasons. I talked to the man’s wife, and she is convinced he is innocent and desires a Buddhist priest to bless him as an innocent life is taken.

I believe you are confusing this case with Murphy v. Collier (2019), which was a 6-3 decision in favor of a Buddhist inmate in Texas. Willie Smith, the inmate in this case, is a devout Christian who wanted his pastor with him.

The mystery here is that both Alito and Gorsuch have previously expressed skepticism that the statute Smith relied on would allow inmates to bring spiritual advisers into the death chamber because of that security issue; Alito mentioned it in his dissent in Murphy, which Gorsuch joined. Assume Gorsuch was more likely to join the liberals here, but nevertheless a reversal from his position two years ago.