Plaintiff Claims Capital Punishment Tradition Parallels Biblical Episode

The Fayetteville Observer reports that a Raleigh, North Carolina judge has given the parties until Monday to file additional information in an unusual suit challenging North Carolina's death penalty. The suit, challenging capital punishment on various grounds, includes claims that the death penalty's administration violates Constitutional protections relating to religion. One of the more intriguing claims in the lawsuit focuses on the apparent tradition in the state of carrying out executions on Friday at 2 a.m., after giving the condemned prisoner a last meal on Thursday evening. Plaintiff Jim French says that custom is similar to the Biblical story of the death of Jesus, who held a Passover meal with his disciples on what Christians commemorate as Holy Thursday.