A U.S. Appeals Court in Chicago reinstated the execution of Lisa Montgomery less than a day after a federal judge had blocked it; but shortly after, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th District put a stay on the execution once again, leaving Montgomery's life hanging in the balance. Montgomery, the only woman on federal death row, was scheduled to be put to death Tuesday evening, and a higher court may still allow her execution to go through. Lisa Montgomery, 52, was convicted of strangling Bobbie Jo Stinnett to death in 2004 and then cutting her baby out from her womb. Montgomery’s attorney argued that she suffers from severe mental illness “from a lifetime of sexual torture she suffered at the hands of caretakers,” and was thus unable to understand why she was being executed. The Trump administration has gone on an execution spree in its final days, putting 10 men to death since July.
