Texas reverses ban on religious advisers in execution chamber By (0) April 22 (UPI) -- Texas announced Thursday that it's reversed its ban on spiritual advisers entering the state's execution chambers. The Texas Department of Criminal Justice issued a revised policy allowing death row inmates to designate a TDCJ chaplain or other spiritual adviser of their choosing to be present inside the death chamber after they receive notification of their execution date. Advertisement The reversal comes two years after the state banned any chaplain from entering the execution chamber amid a legal fight with Patrick Murphy, who sought to have a Buddhist spiritual adviser with him. The U.S. Supreme Court stayed his scheduled 2019 execution on the grounds of religious discrimination after the TDCJ denied his request.