The Supreme Court of the United States denied the state of Alabama’s request to execute 49-year-old Jeffrey Lee using nitrogen gas, agreeing with two lower courts that said it was cruel and unusual and therefore, unconstitutional. The late night decision, effectively halted Lee’s scheduled execution, but only temporarily. While Lee’s legal team declared it a victory, the state’s attorney general called it a miscarriage of justice and said Alabama is “prepared to do whatever is necessary to see Mr. Lee’s lawful sentence carried out.”