Alabama was scheduled to execute death-row prisoner
Willie B. Smith III on February 11, 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court let stand a federal appeals court injunction barring the execution from going forward unless the state permitted Smith’s pastor to be present to provide him religious comfort in the execution chamber. Alabama then announced that it was calling off the execution.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit had issued the preliminary injunction late in the day on February 10, placing Smith’s scheduled February 11, 2021 execution in doubt. The Supreme Court’s order came amidst renewed charges of religious discrimination in the state’s execution practices.