Texas officials on Wednesday banned any chaplain from entering the state's execution chambers less than one week after the Supreme Court stayed the lethal injection of an inmate prevented from having a Buddhist spiritual adviser with him.
The Texas Department of Criminal Justice said changed its execution protocol directly in response to the high court ruling. Only security personnel may enter the execution chamber in future executions, TDCJ spokesman Jeremy Desel said in an email to UPI.
Under the new protocols, TDCJ chaplains will be available to the inmates until they are transferred to the execution chamber. Ministers and spiritual advisers also may observe executions from the witness rooms.
Domestic Glance
Immigration checkpoints on highways leading from the Mexican border into the United States have been closed because the U.S
Jerry Merryman, one of the inventors of the hand-held electronic calculator who is described by those who knew him as not only brilliant but also kind with a good sense of humor, has died. He was 86.
Another top Virginia Democrat has admitted to wearing blackface decades ago. Attorney General Mark Herring issued a statement Wednesday saying he wore brown makeup and a wig in 1980 to look like a black rapper during a party as an undergraduate at the University of Virginia.






























