The Supreme Court told the state of California that it did not do its business over the phone. That prompted the state finally to take Robert Harris out of the gas chamber and back to the holding cell. The state filed papers, the defense filed papers, and three hours later the U.S. Supreme Court came back with what I think is a remarkable order. No lower federal court is empowered to issue a stay of execution without this court's authority. Every federal judge with whom I have spoken about the order is outraged by that order.
Federal judges take an oath to uphold the Constitution.
Although it is one thing for the U.S. Supreme Court to vacate a stay of execution because it does not believe one should have been issued, it is quite another when the U.S. Supreme Court's frustration with us, capital defense lawyers, enrages it to such a degree that it would tell judges that they cannot follow their own oath of office. Lawyers are not going to stop representing their clients. States are not going to stop trying to kill people. Thus, you are always going to have a conflict that comes down to the last minute in each of these cases. The entire process is painful for the condemned person, it is painful for the victim's family, and it is exorbitantly costly in human and financial terms.