John Wayne Gacy last meal Kentucky fried chicken, Just before execution, a condemned prisoner is granted a last meal. The tradition of customized last meals is thought to have been established around 1924 in Texas.
The last meal is a customary practice. Often, the last meal is eaten a day of or before the appointed time of execution. The prisoner receives a last meal and religious rites, if he or she desires.
Inmates generally may not ask for an alcoholic drink in the United States. France allows a little glass of rum minutes before execution. However, they do not get a formal last meal mainly because they are told of the upcoming execution only minutes before it happens.
In many countries the prisoner may, within reason, select what the last meal will be and the authorities do their best to satisfy the request.
Unorthodox or unavailable requests are replaced with substitutes. Some states place tight restrictions:
In Florida, the food for the last meal must be purchased locally and the cost is limited to $40.
In Oklahoma, the cost is limited to $15.
In Louisiana, the prison warden traditionally joins the condemned prisoner for the last meal; on one occasion, the warden paid for an inmate's lobster dinner.
Sometimes, a prisoner shares the last meal with another inmate, as Francis Crowley did with John Resko, or has the meal distributed among other inmates as requested by Raymond Fernandez.
In September 2011, the state of Texas abolished all special last-meal requests after condemned prisoner Lawrence Russell Brewer requested a huge last meal and did not eat any of it, saying he was not hungry.
Brewer's last-meal request was for two chicken-fried steaks with gravy and sliced onions; a triple-patty bacon cheeseburger; a cheese omelet with ground beef, tomatoes, onions, bell peppers, and jalapeños; a bowl of fried okra with ketchup; one pound of barbecued meat with half a loaf of white bread; three fajitas; a meat-lover’s pizza topped with pepperoni, ham, beef, bacon, and sausage; one pint of Blue Bell ice cream; a slab of peanut-butter fudge with crushed peanuts; and three root beers.
