A condemned prisoner's last meal is a customary ritual preceding
execution
Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence ordering that an offender be punished in ...
. In many countries, the prisoner may, within reason, select what the last meal will be.
Contemporary restrictions in the United States
Contrary to the
common belief that all last meal requests, regardless of their complexity, must be fulfilled, various restrictions are in place over what can be requested.
In the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
, most states give the meal a day or two before the actual execution and now use the
euphemism
A euphemism ( ) is when an expression that could offend or imply something unpleasant is replaced with one that is agreeable or inoffensive. Some euphemisms are intended to amuse, while others use bland, inoffensive terms for concepts that the u ...
"special meal".
Alcohol
Alcohol may refer to:
Common uses
* Alcohol (chemistry), a class of compounds
* Ethanol, one of several alcohols, commonly known as alcohol in everyday life
** Alcohol (drug), intoxicant found in alcoholic beverages
** Alcoholic beverage, an alco ...
and
tobacco
Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...
are usually, but not always, denied. Unorthodox or unavailable requests are replaced with similar substitutes. Some states place tight restrictions. Sometimes, a prisoner asks to share the last meal with another inmate (as
Francis Crowley did with John Resko in 1932) or has the meal distributed among other inmates (as requested by
Raymond Fernandez in 1951).
In
Florida
Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...
, the food for the last meal must be purchased locally and the cost is limited to $40.
In
Oklahoma
Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...
, the cost is limited to $25. In
Louisiana
Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...
, the
prison warden
The warden ( US, Canada) or governor ( UK, Australia), also known as a superintendent (US, South Asia) or director (UK, New Zealand), is the official who is in charge of a prison.
Name
In the United States, Mexico, and Canada, warden is the m ...
traditionally joins the condemned prisoner for the last meal. On one occasion, the warden paid for an inmate's lobster dinner.
In Texas, the tradition of customized last meals is thought to have been established around 1924. However, in September 2011, the state of
Texas
Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...
abolished all special meal requests after condemned prisoner
Lawrence Brewer requested a large and expensive meal, but did not eat any of it, stating that he was not hungry.
Since then, the prisoner's last meal is the
prison meal that is being served in the
Huntsville Unit
Texas State Penitentiary at Huntsville or Huntsville Unit (HV), nicknamed "Walls Unit", is a Texas state prison located in Huntsville, Texas, United States. The approximately facility, near downtown Huntsville, is operated by the Correctional Ins ...
cafeteria on the day of execution.
Documented last meal requests
See also
*
Capital punishment
Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence (law), sentence ordering that an offender b ...
*
Death row
Death row, also known as condemned row, is a place in a prison that houses inmates awaiting execution after being convicted of a capital crime and sentenced to death. The term is also used figuratively to describe the state of awaiting executio ...
*
Final statement
A person's last words, their final articulated words stated prior to death or as death approaches, are often recorded because of the decedent's fame, but sometimes because of interest in the statement itself. (People dying of illness are freque ...
*
Last Supper
Image:The Last Supper - Leonardo Da Vinci - High Resolution 32x16.jpg, 400px, alt=''The Last Supper'' by Leonardo da Vinci - Clickable Image, ''The Last Supper (Leonardo), The Last Supper'' (1495-1498). Mural, tempera on gesso, pitch and mastic ...
*
Religion and capital punishment
The major world religions have taken varied positions on the morality of capital punishment and, as such, they have historically impacted the way in which governments handle such punishment practices. Although the viewpoints of some religions ha ...
References
Further reading
* Treadwell, Ty and Vernon, Michelle (2011) ''Last Suppers: Famous Final Meals from Death Row''
*
*
*
*
*
External links
* Greene, Bob (12 June 2001)
They didn't get to choose their last meals ''Jewish World Review''. Retrieved on 2007-08-17.
* Karon, Tony (10 August 2000)
''TIME Magazine''. Retrieved on 2007-08-17.
* Stein, Joel (18 October 2007)
''TIME Magazine''. Retrieved on 2007-11-11.
Famous Last Meals ''Portraits of Last Requests''. Retrieved on 2010-09-17.
''Texas Department of Criminal Justice'' (12 September 2003). Archived fro
on 2003-12-02. Retrieved on 2011-03-17.
Last Meals. ''rotten dot com''. Retrieved on 2007-08-17.
Last Meals: What Would You Order?''
Seattle Weekly
The ''Seattle Weekly'' is an alternative biweekly distributed newspaper in Seattle, Washington, United States. It was founded by Darrell Oldham and David Brewster as ''The Weekly.'' Its first issue was published on March 31, 1976, and it becam ...
'' (18 June 2010). Retrieved on 2010-06-24.
Last Meals on Death Row (since 2002) ''Dead Man Eating''. Retrieved on 2007-08-17.
Top 10 Death Row Last Meal Requests from Texas. ''Zombie Popcorn'' (9 October 2008) Retrieved on 2010-09-29.
{{CapPun-US
Capital punishment
Death customs
Meals
Prison food