The state and federal judges' rulings are both under appeal by the state. A significant delay in these arguments could indefinitely halt these executions since the state's supply of midazolam will run out at the end of the month and state officials have said they have no source to obtain a further supply of the sedative.

But even with the court-issued stays, the executions are still possible before the end of April if the cases are sent to the Supreme Court and it sides with the state of Arkansas in its appeal.

Arkansas officials originally scheduled eight executions from April 17-27. Two of the inmates were granted stays of execution outside of the federal judge's April 15 decision.

These executions were announced months ago by Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, who said they had to be done in quick succession to use the state's final batch of the midazolam before it expired at the end of April.

Many people have demonstrated against the state's plan to execute these man in such quick succession, including the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

In an April 13 statement, Bishop Frank J. Dewane of Venice, Florida, chairman of the bishops' Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development, urged the state's governor to reconsider the scheduled executions and reduce the sentences to life imprisonment.

"May those in Arkansas who hold the lives of these individuals on death row in their hands be moved by God's love, which is stronger than death, and abandon the current plans for execution," he wrote.

The bishop said the timing for these executions "was not set by the demands of justice, but by the arbitrary politics of punishment," referring to the state's supply of the sedative used in executions. "And so, in a dark irony, a safeguard that was intended to protect people is now being used as a reason to hasten their deaths."

After the rulings temporarily halting the executions were issued, Bishop Anthony B. Taylor of Little Rock, Arkansas, thanked all of those who had "prayed and worked so hard to prevent these scheduled executions from taking place."

"Let us continue to pray and work for the abolition of the death penalty in Arkansas and throughout the country," he said in a statement. He also urged for prayers for "healing for the victims of the horrific crimes" and for the perpetrators of these crimes, saying: "The Lord never gives up on anyone and neither should we."

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Follow Zimmermann on Twitter: @carolmaczim.