September 22, 2011 5:07 PM

Texas ends special last meals on death row

Lawrence Russell Brewer is led from the Jasper County courthouse, April 28, 1999, following a change of venue hearing in his capital murder trial for the 1998 dragging death of James Byrd Jr., in Jasper, Texas. (AP)

(AP) 

HOUSTON - Texas inmates who are set to be executed will no longer get their choice of last meals, a change prison officials made Thursday after a prominent state senator became miffed over an expansive request from a man condemned for a notorious dragging death.

Lawrence Russell Brewer, who was executed Wednesday for the hate crime slaying of James Byrd Jr. more than a decade ago, asked for two chicken fried steaks, a triple-meat bacon cheeseburger, fried okra, a pound of barbecue, three fajitas, a meat lover's pizza, a pint of ice cream and a slab of peanut butter fudge with crushed peanuts. Prison officials said Brewer didn't eat any of it.

"It is extremely inappropriate to give a person sentenced to death such a privilege," Sen. John Whitmire, chairman of the Senate Criminal Justice Committee, wrote in a letter Thursday to Brad Livingston, the executive director of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.

Within hours, Livingston said the senator's concerns were valid and the practice of allowing death row offenders to choose their final meal was history.

"Effective immediately, no such accommodations will be made," Livingston said. "They will receive the same meal served to other offenders on the unit."

Photos: The last meals of executed criminals
White supremacist executed for dragging death
U.S. executions, by the numbers

That had been the suggestion from Whitmire, who called the traditional request "ridiculous."

"It's long overdue," the Houston Democrat told The Associated Press after he was informed of Livingston's decision. "This old boy last night, enough is enough. We're fixing to execute the guy and maybe it makes the system feel good about what they're fixing to do. Kind of hypocritical, you reckon?

"Mr. Byrd didn't get to choose his last meal. The whole deal is so illogical."

Brewer, a white supremacist gang member, was convicted of chaining Byrd, 49, to the back of a pickup truck and dragging him to his death along a bumpy road in a case shocked the nation for its brutality. Prison officials deliver inmates their requested last meal about two hours before their scheduled execution hour — 6 p.m.

Whitmire warned in his letter that if the "last meal of choice" practice wasn't stopped immediately, he'd seek a state statute to end it when lawmakers convene in the next legislative session.

It was not immediately clear whether other states have made similar moves. The Death Penalty Information Center, a Washington-based anti-capital punishment organization that collects execution statistics, said it had no final meal data.

Since Texas resumed carrying out executions in 1982, the state correction agency's practice has been to fill a condemned inmate's request as long as the items, or food similar to what was requested, were readily available from the prison kitchen supplies.

While extensive, Brewer's request was far from the largest or most bizarre among the 475 Texas inmates put to death.

On Tuesday, prisoner Cleve Foster's request included two fried chickens, French fries and a five-gallon bucket of peaches. He received a reprieve from the U.S. Supreme Court but none of his requested meal. He was on his way back to death row, at a prison about 45 miles east of Huntsville, at the time when his feast would have been served.

Last week, inmate Steven Woods' request included two pounds of bacon, a large four-meat pizza, four fried chicken breasts, two drinks each of Mountain Dew, Pepsi, root beer and sweet tea, two pints of ice cream, five chicken fried steaks, two hamburgers with bacon, fries and a dozen garlic bread sticks with marinara on the side. Two hours later, he was executed.

Years ago, a Texas inmate even requested dirt for his final meal.

Until 2003, the Texas prison system listed final meals of each prisoner as part of its death row website. That stopped at 313 final meals after officials said they received complaints from people who found it offensive.

A former inmate cook who made the last meals for prisoners at the Huntsville Unit, where Texas executions are carried out, wrote a cookbook several years ago after he was released. Among his recipes were Gallows Gravy, Rice Rigor Mortis and Old Sparky's Genuine Convict Chili, a nod to the electric chair that once served as the execution method. The book was called "Meals to Die For."

© 2011 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Add a Comment See all 41 Comments
by KiwiNige September 27, 2011 11:45 PM EDT
Have none of you pro-state murder supporters heard of Todd Willingham??

No? How about Troy Davis?

Are any of you imaginative enough to comprehend what it would be like to be an innocent man condemned to death?

Because Todd and Troy are just two of the innocent men who have been murdered by the State of Texas.

Jesus Christ didn't go through the hell they did.

May your God have mercy on your deluded souls.
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by alexa_1405 September 23, 2011 4:33 PM EDT
The only thing that is extremely inappropriate is a civilized country killing its own people in the 21st century.
Reply to this comment
by KiwiNige September 27, 2011 11:36 PM EDT
Hear, hear, Alexa.

The only western democracy in the world which kills its own.

It's like admitting you've failed.

Shame USA.
by qteondty September 23, 2011 4:20 PM EDT
LOOK ITS A WASTE AND THAT IDIOT ORDERED ALL THAT FOOD ON WED AND ATE NONE OF IT. PLUS, NOT LIKE HE WILL KEEP THE TASTE OR EVEN SEE THE WASTE THE NEXT DAY. ALSO, HOW ARE THOSE THAT EXECUTE HIM GOING TO HELL? ITS THEIR JOB AND HELLO IF YOU WANT TO BE ON DEATH ROW DON'T GO AROUND KILLING INNOCENT FOLKS. THAT MAN WAS DRAGGED CAN YOU IMAGINE THE PAIN HE ENDURED???? IF YOU'RE BAD ENOUGH TO TAKE A LIFE WELL YOU'RE BAD ENOUGH TO GET THE LETHAL INJECTION OR THE CHAIR. THESE LOSERS DIDN'T CARE ABOUT THE PPL THEY HARMED OR KILLED LAST MEAL SO WHY SHOULD WE WASTE MORE TAXPAYER'S MONEY ON THEM.
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by KiwiNige September 27, 2011 11:39 PM EDT
Wondered where the rednecks were hiding...
by SMB-IL September 23, 2011 9:25 AM EDT
Wow, Texas just continuously finds new and innovative ways to suck. Please do us all a favor and secede.
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by Overruled1 September 25, 2011 9:33 PM EDT
Is the drought really that bad, you'd start denying food to dieing prisoners in Texas?
by Dgunner September 23, 2011 8:37 AM EDT
I think a good serving of 1 meat three vegatables and starch and three pieces of bread is sufficient.I think we shouldn't just deny a condemned man a last meal of reasonable amount and prepared in a skilled matter that would be edible by the executioner himself .It is a well known fact that texans have big mouths big appetities for greed and power . The texas democrats are unlike any elswhere in the country. Thier republicans have giant egos and most are all hat and no cattle.I wouldn't p-ss on a texas politican if he the next president.
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by Jaylah54 September 23, 2011 2:52 AM EDT
Maybe all that greasy, fried stuff is supposed to be a "get even" thing for their executions. We all know that the sphincter muscle relaxes upon death, and that much fried food should be enough to give anybody diarrhea.
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by boehhher September 23, 2011 2:23 AM EDT
What is ironic is that if there was a God then the religious conservatives would be going to hell for murder. If someone murdered another then these people should let their God judge. I can't imagine how the person who physically murders the inmate during an execution can live knowing he will go to hell.
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by Tagger50 September 23, 2011 1:26 AM EDT
Why do they even need a last meal? Talk about a waste. Did they give the people they robbed, raped, murdered or molested a choice, I think not.
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by GOPeconomicterror September 23, 2011 6:26 AM EDT
What kind of pinko commie warden would approve of 25,000 calories as a last meal, and then share it among the guards while watching the execution?????????????????????????????????
by qteondty September 23, 2011 4:22 PM EDT
Exactly.....and this guy ordered enough for at least 20 ppl knowing he wasn't going to eat it he played them.
by LastSuppers September 23, 2011 1:03 AM EDT
Brewer should be thankful he's dead, because he's now the most hated man on Texas Death Row! Just imagine being the next guy in line. Major bummer!---Ty Treadwell, author of Last Suppers: Famous Final Meals from Death Row

http://lastsuppersbook.blogspot.com/
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by Jaylah54 September 22, 2011 11:52 PM EDT
I'm not quite understanding how it matters if a prisoner ate his last meal or not.

I do understand that it was rather a waste, so I could certainly understand putting some limits on the last meal, (rather than a last all-you-can-eat buffet to feed 10).

But -- if I was sentenced to die -- I can sort of see asking for a reasonable quantity of my most favorite foods for a last meal, and then -- when the time came -- being too upset to eat it.
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