Texas Ends Special Last Meals for Condemned Prisoners

Lawrence Russell Brewer has ruined things for Texas death row inmates. Because he ordered a very elaborate and substantial last meal before his execution and then didn't eat it, the practice of a hearty last meal has been ended for people awaiting execution.

Brewer, who was put to death recently for the hate crime dragging death of James Byrd, ordered a last meal that consisted of two chicken fried steaks, a triple meat bacon cheese burger, a cheese omelet, a large bowl of fried okra, three fajitas, a pint of blue bell ice cream and a pound of barbeque with a half a loaf of white bread. It would seem that on further reflection, Brewer decided that he had no appetite for a last meal, not to mention the five that he seems to have ordered, and declined to eat a bite.

State Senate Criminal Justice Committee Chairman John Whitmire, D-Houston, has been campaigning against giving death row inmates elaborate last meals for quite some time. Brewer's case seems to have been the final straw. The Texas Department of Criminal Justice has decreed that prisoners awaiting execution will get the same prison fare that everyone else gets before they are sent to eternity for their crimes.

The last meals of famous convicts have been as commented upon, in their own way, as their crimes. John Wayne Gacy, the serial rapist and murderer of numerous young men, ate fried shrimp, a bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken and a pound of strawberries. Timothy McVeigh, the Oklahoma City bomber, had two pints of mint chocolate chip ice cream. Ted Bundy, the mass murderer of numerous women, had steak and eggs, hash browns, toast, milk, juice, coffee, butter and jelly. Gary Gilmore, the first man to be executed after the reinstatement of the death penalty in the 1970s, ate a burger, eggs, potato, coffee, and three shots of contraband Jack Daniels whiskey.

The custom of granting a condemned prisoner a last meal dates to ancient times. It is as much a part of the ritual of execution as providing the prisoner the services of clergy and giving him the right of a final statement. Most countries that allow capital punishment adhere to the custom.

The idea behind State Sen. Whitmire's campaign against an elaborate last meal is that people who have committed heinous crimes for which they are put to death do not deserve special treatment. It is ironic that Brewer, a vicious racist murderer, made Whitmire's point, not by his crime, but by wasting food.

Texas resident Mark Whittington writes about state issues for the Yahoo Contributor Network.

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