Washington ? After a private welcome to his new job, Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito was confronted in his first hours with emergency appeals in three death row cases.

He bowed out as his colleagues blocked executions in Florida and Missouri, while allowing Texas to put to death an inmate.

It was a sign of what’s to come for Alito, confirmed Tuesday by the Senate on a 58-42 vote.

In his first month on the bench, the court’s new junior justice will find himself in the thick of fights over the environment, evidence rules for accused killers, Texas politics and the fortune of Playboy Playmate Anna Nicole Smith’s late husband.

With Alito on the job, the court announced Wednesday a new division of the workload in emergency appeals. Alito will oversee cases from the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, covering Arkansas, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota.