A sharply divided Supreme Court declined Tuesday to halt the execution of a death row inmate in Louisiana who argued that the use of nitrogen gas would interfere with his Buddhist beliefs – an argument that drew interest from one of the court’s conservatives.

The Supreme Court in a 5-4 vote declined to stop Louisiana from carrying out its first execution in 15 years later Tuesday with Justice Neil Gorsuch joining the court’s three liberal

In a failed last-ditch appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, lawyers for condemned inmate Jessie Hoffman had argued that executing someone with nitrogen gas produces unconstitutional "psychological terror.