Executions placed on hold in many states, may resume

HOUSTON (AP) – Courts nationally have put some of their executions on hold but many of those may now be resuming.

Texas and Missouri have been the only states to execute inmates during the COVID-19 pandemic. In Missouri, triple-murderer Ernest Lee Johnson was put to death just last week.

Executions in the nation’s busiest capital punishment state face delays amid legal questions over Texas’ refusal to allow spiritual advisers to touch people as they are being put to death.

It’s unclear when Texas may carry out another execution after the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to hear religious freedom claims from death row inmate John Henry Ramirez. Oral arguments are set for Nov. 1. Several other inmates have since made similar claims.

Oklahoma and Alabama both have executions set for later this year.