Texas death row inmate Ivan Cantu could die today. He deserves to know why the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals would summarily reject a petition for a writ of habeas corpus, in light of the considerable evidence putting his conviction into question. Consider the history:

On Tuesday, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals denied Cantu’s request to stay his execution and an application to allow a court to rule on new evidence in the murder of his cousin, James Mosqueda and Mosqueda’s fiancée, Amy Kitchens, in the course of a robbery. Cantu was convicted and sentenced to death in 2001. Petitions from Cantu for writs of habeas corpus were denied in 2004 and 2006.