How Missouri Denied Condemned Men Spiritual Advisers at Their Deaths

Date:  01-11-2026 “We’re talking about constitutional rights in someone’s dying moments,” one advocate said.

From The Marshall Project: During Lance Shockley’s final moments in Missouri’s execution chamber in October 2025, he wanted his daughter, an ordained minister, by his side as his spiritual adviser. A few years earlier, the U.S. Supreme Court had expanded religious rights for the condemned, saying spiritual advisers could accompany them into the execution chamber and could touch them while praying aloud. But the Missouri Department of Corrections refused Shockley his chosen spiritual adviser, and he died alone. Continue reading >>>