Gorsuch “Complicit in a Travesty”

WASHINGTON, D.C., April 21, 2017 – In response to Justice Neil Gorsuch’s initial act on the Supreme Court, to cast a fifth vote in a 5-4 Court action allowing executions to go forward in Arkansas beginning with last night’s execution of Ledell Lee, Alliance for Justice President Nan Aron issued the following statement:  

“Justice Neil Gorsuch’s first vote on the Supreme Court has made him complicit in a travesty. Ledell Lee was executed even though the state of Arkansas refused his requests for DNA testing that he claimed would have exonerated him, his trial was compromised by a romantic relationship between a prosecutor and judge, and his appointed attorney appeared in court too intoxicated to perform his duties. Shockingly, the fact that Arkansas’ supply of lethal drugs for execution is about to expire was a decisive factor here, and the Roberts Court went along with that rationale with the help of Neil Gorsuch, whose record has always shown hostility to the rights of the accused.”