Sharon Keller, the pre­sid­ing judge of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, received a pub­lic warn­ing from the State Commission on Judicial Conduct on July 16 for her con­duct in bar­ring access to the courts to a death row inmate who was about to be exe­cut­ed in 2007. The Commission said her actions con­sti­tut­ed ​“will­ful or per­sis­tent con­duct that is clear­ly incon­sis­tent with the prop­er per­for­mance of her duties.” When request­ed at home to allow a late-appeal fil­ing by death row inmate Michael Richard, Judge Keller respond­ed, ​“We close at 5.” Richard was exe­cut­ed the same day, the last per­son to be exe­cut­ed in the coun­try while the U.S. Supreme Court con­sid­ered the con­sti­tu­tion­al­i­ty of lethal injec­tions. Every oth­er inmate sched­uled for exe­cu­tion received a stay until the Supreme Court upheld the exe­cu­tion process in April 2008. The Commission described Keller’s response as ​“will­ful or per­sis­tent con­duct that casts pub­lic dis­cred­it on the judiciary.”

Judge Keller may appeal the rul­ing. The Commission could have removed her from office, but instead chose one of the least severe remedies available. 

(P. Weber, ​“Top Texas crim­i­nal judge warned but keeps job,” Associated Press, July 17, 2010). See Arbitrariness.

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