The former Governor of Missouri granted Marcellus Williams an eleventh-hour
stay of execution. By executive order, the Governor formed a special Board of Inquiry
under Mo. Rev. Stat. §552.070, directed the Board to investigate Williams' case,
ordered the Board to issue a report and recommendation whether to grant clemency,
and stayed Williams' execution "until... the Governor makes a final determination"
on clemency. Before the Board completed the process, however, the current Governor
dissolved the Board and revoked the stay of execution. Williams' execution is now set
for September 24, 2024.

The Supreme Court of Missouri held the Governor could terminate Williams'
special clemency proceedings because "a capital offender retains no protectible due
process interest within the clemency process." App. 14a. The court further held that
the Governor could revoke the stay at "any time" as a matter of "discretion" because
the stay of execution "create[d] no rights." App. 7a. The questions presented are:

1. Whether the State of Missouri will deprive Williams of his life without due
process by executing him after the Governor initiated a special process to evaluate
Williams' request for clemency, but the next Governor terminated that process before
its completion.

2. Whether the State will deprive Williams of his life without due process by
executing him when the Governor revoked his stay of execution without completing
the State's self-imposed conditions for lifting the stay.

Whether the State of Missouri will deprive Williams of his life without due process by executing him after initiating and then terminating a special clemency evaluation process without completion