Subpoena Stay

The dispute about the execution of Robert Roberson reached the Texas Supreme Court late last week, producing a stay order until lower courts can evaluate the merits of the Legislature’s last-minute subpoena to Mr. Roberson. A concurrence, joined by three Justices, mused about the separation-of-power questions at issue. Despite the obvious merits of Mr. Roberson’s case, one does wonder what future mischief may be enabled by encouragement of assertive exercise of the Legislature’s subpoena power.