WASHINGTON (AP) — Just 11 days on the job, Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch had an early taste of the weighty power that sometimes comes to a member of the nation's highest court. Gorsuch for the first time faced a vote in which he could have spared a man's life. It's rare that a new justice is put to such a life-or-death test so early and some justices have called such decisions the hardest part of the job. Breyer has described the arbitrary nature of capital punishment as one reason he has concluded after more than 20 years on the court that the death penalty probably is unconstitutional. But he inevitably will weigh in on the death penalty and related issues in the years to come, and quite possibly, in ways that might surprise today's critics and supporters.

Source: Economic Times April 21, 2017 21:00 UTC