New U.S. Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch delivered his first opinion Monday, a tightly written unanimous decision that follows his pledge to focus on the text of statutes before the court.

Gorsuch's decision in Henson v. Santander Consumer USA, a case argued April 18, followed the high court's tradition of giving the newbie a positive experience by assigning him or her to write in a relatively straightforward case likely to yield a unanimous decision.

The case asked the court to clarify what a “debt collector” is under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, and Gorsuch spelled out the dilemma plainly: “Everyone agrees that the term embraces the repo man—someone hired by a creditor to collect an outstanding debt. But what if you purchase a debt and then try to collect it for yourself—does that make you a 'debt collector' too?”