Gorsuch's First Big Supreme Court Vote Allows Arkansas Execution
- Justices vote 5-4 to let state start lethal injections
- Convicted murderer Ledell Lee subsequently put to death
Justice Anthony Kennedy Administers The Judicial Oath To Judge Neil Gorsuch At The White House
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Justice Neil Gorsuch took his first major action on the U.S. Supreme Court by casting the deciding vote to let Arkansas begin executing a group of death-row inmates.
In a series of orders Thursday night, the high court cleared the state to execute Ledell Lee, one of eight convicted murderers that Arkansas has been trying to put to death before one of its lethal-injection drugs expires at the end of the month. Arkansas executed Lee minutes after the court rejected the last of his requests.