The practice of serving condemned inmates a last meal of their choosing is a pretty famous part of death row, but as of 2011, Texas no longer offers inmates that opportunity. Why? When Lawrence Russell Brewer was facing execution for the brutal murder of James Byrd Jr., he first ordered a massive last meal that he then refused, saying he wasn’t hungry. That, in turn, led to Sen. John Whitmire saying (via the BBC), “Enough is enough. It is extremely inappropriate to give a person sentenced to death such a privilege.”
Other states still offer last meals, but exactly what can be requested and what gets served varies by state. Typically, inmates are expected to submit their orders about two days prior to their execution, and in most cases, they’ll get a version that’s made with whatever the prison kitchen has on hand, or what can be bought locally.
Some states have monetary limits on what inmates can ask for, and interestingly, inmates also have the option of requesting that their last meal remain confidential — surprising, considering the public’s obsession with it. In 2020, Henry Hargreaves released a book of photos recreating famous last meals and explained to The New York Times, “The detail of death-row meals brought home the human aspect. I thought, if I can empathize with these people through their last meals, other people can, too.”
