Priest-Penitent Privilege: In Defense of Confidential Death Row Spiritual Counsel

For those facing execution, confession is often the first place they speak honestly about guilt, remorse, and fear. Without the absolute assurance of privacy, those truths remain buried. Without the seal, repentance becomes guarded. Without protection, the state's power reaches into the most intimate part of the human soul. Blending theology, constitutional law, and lived ministry, Priest-Penitent Privilege argues that the confidential bond between priest and penitent is not optional-it is essential.
From People v. Philips to Ramirez v. Collier, Rev. Dr. Jeff Hood demonstrates that priest-penitent privilege has been defended for centuries because it protects something fundamental: human dignity. If religious liberty does not extend to those condemned to die, it does not truly exist at all. This book is essential reading for chaplains, prison ministers, criminal defense attorneys, corrections professionals, seminarians, legal scholars, and anyone who believes that human dignity persists even unto death.