Thomas referred the case to the full court, and shortly before midnight, the justices issued an order granting Arthur’s stay request. The order included a statement from Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. explaining that while he did not believe this case merited a review from the Supreme Court, he had decided to vote for a stay anyway as a courtesy to his colleagues. Roberts wrote that four of the other justices had voted in favor of staying the execution. While it takes five justices to overturn a lower court ruling, it takes only four to accept a case. “To afford them the opportunity to more fully consider the suitability of this case for review, including these circumstances, I vote to grant the stay as a courtesy,” he wrote. Justices Thomas and Samuel Alito would have rejected the requ