Death Penalty

This Texas judge refused to hold open the clerk's office for a last-minute death row inmate appeal, based on the Supreme Court's announcement earlier that day that it would consider a case with potential ramifications for this inmate. The appeal was not filed in time, and the inmate was executed later that night.

That judge is now on trial for her job. The NYTimes argues that she is unfit for the job: "Judge Keller’s callous indifference in a case where the stakes could not have been higher makes her unfit for office."

I'm not sure I agree. Certainly, I think the judge showed a callousness and lack of compassion in refusing to hold the office open. A man's life was at stake, fercryinoutloud, and you couldn't keep the office open for, what, 30 more minutes? But on the other hand, random last-minute appeals are filed all the time. I'm betting the majority of them have no chance of actually changing the outcome. I don't think the refusal to bend the rules makes a person unfit to be a judge...

Of course, there are other issues here as well - something about the court not following its own procedures. But that's the court, not the judge, right? The cynical side of me says, yeah, she's a heartless bastard, but . . . he probably would've lost his appeal anyway, even if his lawyers had filed it on time. C'est la vie. Or, peut-être, la mort.