The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday ordered a federal judge in Brownsville to determine the legality of a Texas policy change that bars clergy from accompanying death row inmates into the execution chamber. The 2019 policy was challenged by inmate Ruben Gutierrez, a Roman Catholic who argues that the clergy ban violates his right to the free exercise of religion and a federal law that protects the religious practice of inmates. In a one-paragraph order, the Supreme Court directed U.S. District Judge Hilda Tagle to analyze and rule on the claims raised by Gutierrez, who was sentenced to death in t…

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