On The Front Lines
Virginia Honors Death Row Inmate's Religious Objection to Autopsy
_______________________________________Virginia Grants Rutherford Institute President's Request To Respect
Death Row Inmate's Religious Objection To Autopsy After Execution
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va.--In response to a request for religious accommodation for a death row inmate by John W. Whitehead, president of The Rutherford Institute, the Commonwealth of Virginia has agreed to accommodate the sincerely held religious beliefs of the inmate regarding an autopsy that was being demanded by the state. As suggested by Whitehead, officials from the Commonwealth's Office of the Chief Medical Examiner agreed to perform external and toxicological examinations of Cherrix in lieu of an autopsy. Whitehead made the appeal for accommodation in a letter to Virginia Governor Mark Warner, State Attorney General Jerry Kilgore, and the Commonwealth's Chief Medical Examiner on behalf of Brian Lee Cherrix. Cherrix, a death row inmate in the Greenville Correctional Center is scheduled to be executed on March 18, 2004.
The Rutherford Institute intervened on behalf of death row inmate Brian Lee Cherrix after officials from the Commonwealth's Office of the Chief Medical Examiner informed him that following his execution, his body would be subjected to an autopsy ordered and conducted by the Commonwealth of Virginia. Believing that the autopsy would violate his Christian beliefs against mutilating and destroying God's temple, described in the Bible as the human body, Cherrix objected. Cherrix requested that his religious beliefs regarding the autopsy be accommodated. Cherrix asked about the basis for such an autopsy requirement. Asserting that autopsies on executed inmates are mandated by Section 32.1-283 of the Virginia Code and protect the government from being sued, officials from the Commonwealth's office of the Chief Medical Examiner initially declined Cherrix's request. However, a study of the code revealed no such mandate. Whitehead asserted in his letter that the Commonwealth's interest in protecting itself against lawsuits could easily be satisfied by means that would not violate Cherrix's sincerely held religious beliefs. For example, in ruling on a similar case involving a request for religious accommodation, a federal district court in another jurisdiction granted a death row inmate's motion for a preliminary injunction prohibiting the state of Pennsylvania from carrying out an autopsy after his execution. The court stated that "[a]n external examination of [the deceased] by a medical doctor prior to and after the execution, including the taking of a series of photographs and videotaping the execution, would protect the government from a lawsuit." Whitehead pointed out in his letter that Cherrix has no objection to the Commonwealth's external examination of his body prior to and after his execution, nor to the Commonwealth's videotaping and photographing of his execution. Cherrix has agreed to sign a statement prior to the execution that he has not been physically abused by prison personnel and waiving any potential claims against the Commonwealth concerning the manner and method of his execution.
"The Commonwealth of Virginia is to be commended for doing the right thing in this situation and for recognizing that Brian Lee Cherrix's constitutional right--in life and in death--to have his sincerely held religious belief protected outweighs the Commonwealth's interest in an autopsy," said John W. Whitehead, president of The Rutherford Institute. "As we face our own mortality, the importance of our First Amendment right to religious freedom is magnified."
The Rutherford Institute is an international, nonprofit civil liberties organization committed to defending constitutional and human rights.
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