Prison officials in Texas have abolished the traditional last meal request for inmates facing execution, after a condemned prisoner ordered a huge banquet and then ate none of it.
Lawrence Russell Brewer, executed on Wednesday for the 1998 hate-crime killing of James Byrd Jr, told prison staff he was not hungry when his meal arrived at 16:00. The order included two chicken fried steaks, a triple-meat bacon cheeseburger, three fajitas, a meat lover's pizza, a pint of ice cream and peanut butter fudge.
The move followed a complaint from Senator John Whitmire, a Democrat who chairs the state Senate Criminal Justice Committee. He called the meal privilege "inappropriate" and threatened to introduce legislation if it was not withdrawn. "Enough is enough," he said. "It is extremely inappropriate to give a person sentenced to death such a privilege. It's a privilege which the perpetrator did not provide to their victim."
Brad Livingston, executive director of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, responded within hours, saying the tradition would be abolished. Inmates will now receive the same meal served to other offenders in the unit.
Most US states retain a last meal tradition, though practices vary. While some offer a set menu, others such as Florida impose a cost limit. In 2007, Philip Workman's request for his vegetarian pizza to be given to a homeless person was denied. In 1990, James Edward Smith asked for "a lump of dirt"; in 2000, Odell Barnes requested "justice, equality and world peace". Both were refused.
