The state of Arkansas has moved forward with its attempt to begin a series of double executions despite rulings in state and federal courts that the inmates are entitled to additional appeals.
The attorney general and governor are vowing to pursue a series of executions scheduled over the next two weeks even after the state's Supreme Court halted the first two lethal injections hours before they were to take place.
The state's lawyers pressed the eighth US Circuit Court of Appeals to allow the executions to begin, saying the inmates are simply stalling so a key lethal injection drug will expire.
The inmates' legal team urged a three-judge panel to avoid a "rushed analysis of this complex record".
Meanwhile, the Arkansas Supreme Court yesterday also barred a state judge who blocked the multiple execution plan from taking up any death penalty-related cases after he participated in a protest where he appeared to mimic a death row inmate about to receive lethal injection.
The inmates are "blatantly attempting to manipulate the judicial system and shield themselves from justice".
Justices reassigned any death penalty cases from Pulaski County Circuit Court Judge Wendell Griffen, who banned the state from using a lethal injection drug a supplier said was misleadingly obtained.
Arkansas set up a schedule to execute eight prisoners before its supply of the sedative midazolam expires at the end of the month. If court proceedings are pushed into May, it will not be able to carry out the executions with the drugs it has on hand.
Despite some legal setbacks for the state, it is still possible for the executions to be carried out.
"We're in place and ready to go for whatever the court rules," said a spokesman for governor Asa Hutchinson, JR Davis. The governor is monitoring the courts and plans to visit with the attorney general and Arkansas Department of Correction leaders to discuss any next steps.
Among the decisions the state is appealing against is one from a federal judge who on Saturday halted all of the executions so the inmates could pursue claims their deaths could be especially painful.
The inmates asked the eighth US Circuit Court of Appeals to take its time reviewing transcripts and rulings, rather than complete their work in two days as the state has asked.
"Reject the state's request for a rushed analysis of this complex record," they wrote. They also want the court to schedule oral arguments.
Arkansas solicitor general Lee Rudofsky countered by telling the eighth Circuit that the inmates are simply trying to run out the clock - "blatantly attempting to manipulate the judicial system and shield themselves from justice".
But that is not the only legal obstacle the state faces.
It is also appealing against Mr Griffen's order that the prison system cannot use a paralysing drug until he could determine whether the state obtained it properly.
It has asked the Arkansas Supreme Court to reconsider its decision to put on hold the first of the scheduled lethal injections, of Bruce Earl Ward, after his legal team argued he is a diagnosed schizophrenic with no rational understanding of his impending execution.
The state has not said whether it will appeal against a federal judge's decision to grant a stay to another inmate, Jason McGehee, who had won a clemency recommendation from the state parole board.
State law requires a 30-day comment period on favourable recommendations, but those 30 days expire after Arkansas' midazolam supply.
At a federal court hearing last week, prison officials testified they must conduct the executions with their current batch of midazolam, a sedative that is intended to mask the effects of drugs that will shut down the inmates' lungs and hearts.
The inmates say midazolam is unsuitable because it is not a painkiller and could subject them to a cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the US Constitution.