Death row inmates in Texas are no longer be allowed to choose a special last meal before their execution – and it all comes down to one man’s shocking request.
The brutal crime
It’s a question that comes up in casual conversation everywhere: if you knew your time was up, what would your final meal be?
Some imagine a towering burger, a perfectly cooked steak, or some other culinary indulgence. But in Texas, that tradition has officially ended.
For decades, inmates in most U.S. states were allowed one “last meal” of their choosing before their execution. While often treated as a privilege rather than a legal right, these meals were famous for their extravagance, symbolism, or emotional weight. Some states even limited spending or menu options, and a few had quietly scrapped the tradition entirely.
The idea of a last meal goes back centuries — ancient Rome, Greece, and China all had similar practices, rooted in superstitions meant to prevent the spirits of the condemned from haunting the living.
But it was Lawrence Russell Brewer who changed the rules forever, back in 2011.
Brewer, a white supremacist, was jailed with two other men (Shawn Berry and John King) for the brutal 1998 murder of James Byrd Jr., a Black man in Jasper, Texas.
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