Gov. Tom Wolf's decision to grant a reprieve to a death row inmate—and announcement that he would grant more while a study of death penalty procedures was ongoing—should be set aside as an unconstitutional open-ended suspension of his duty to enforce the law, prosecutors argued to the state Supreme Court on Thursday.

But H. Geoffrey Moulton Jr., representing the Wolf administration, argued the reprieves are not permanent, but indefinite pending a recommendation by a state task force.

“It's not an unchecked power,” Moulton said. “If the people are unhappy with the way this governor is granting reprieves, they could choose another governor,” or amend the constitution.