Daniel Lewis Lee Federally Executed this Morning

This morning, 47-year-old white supremacist Daniel Lewis Lee was put to death by lethal injection. Lee was convicted of killing three people, including an 8-year-old girl in Arkansas back in 1996. Hours before the federal execution was expected to take place yesterday, a U.S. District Judge temporarily halted it again. This came after the Court of Appeals overruled a previous judge who attempted to postpone the event last week. The federal judge tried to block proceedings this time on the basis lethal injection is cruel and unusual punishment. Early this morning, the Supreme Court reversed this ruling yet again in a 5 to 4 vote and determined the execution of Lee would take place. His death marked the first federal execution in 17 years. Many were still critical of the decision to move forward with the executions, with two more this week and one in August.