IT IS a tradition that can be traced far back in history: Before being put to death, a condemned prisoner can choose his last meal.

Texas inmates who are set to be executed will no longer get their choice of last meals, a change prison officials made after a prominent state senator became miffed over an expansive request from a man condemned for a notorious dragging death.

One of two white men sentenced to death in the US for chaining a black man to a pickup truck and dragging him until he died has asked a judge for an execution date.