A divided U

A divided U.S. Supreme Court lifted the last-minute stay that had spared a condemned Texas inmate from the death chamber. The court decided 5-4 to allow Texas to resume plans to execute Kevin Lee Zimmerman. Justice Antonin Scalia stopped the punishment, to give the high court more time to look at his case. The temporary stay was vacated in a brief order, over the objections of the court's more liberal members: Justices John Paul Stevens, David H. Souter, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer. Shortly after the Supreme Court ruling, State District Judge Charles Carver set Jan. 21 as Zimmerman's new death date. Unless further action is taken, the ruling clears the way for Zimmerman's execution, as well as that of Billy Frank Vickers.