The South Carolina Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that death by firing squad and other forms of execution commonly held to be cruel and unusual are legal in the state if the inmate requests the method of execution.
The ruling comes after the state passed a law in 2021 allowing executions by firing squad and electrocution in addition to lethal injection, in response to a shortage of lethal injection drugs and a rise in mishaps during executions.
That law made electrocution the default method of execution, as the state could not find a reliable source for lethal injection drugs.
Death row inmates sued the state over the change, but the conservative-majority court sided with state prosecutors. Executions are expected to resume again in the state following the ruling.
No execution has been performed in South Carolina since 2011. There are currently 32 inmates on death row in the state.
Justice John Few wrote in the majority decision that the 2021 law was not intended to cause additional suffering, but rather was a “sincere effort to make the death penalty less inhumane while enabling the state to carry out its laws.”
@PenguinJakeWomen’s Equality8mos8MO
The death penalty should be barred on the federal level, but getting a constitutional amendment through to bar the government from murdering its citizens in such a manner might be difficult.
@L1b3rtyAnteaterGreen8mos8MO
Someone must explain to me how anyone can be Christian and believe in the death penalty. A lot of people are going to get to heaven and some tapes are going to be rolled back.
@BipartisanBoarsSocialist8mos8MO
At least its cheap but i prefer the guillotine
@D3baterCamelGreen8mos8MO
A firing squad isn't really appropriate for the town square at noon.
@PeskyLobbyistRepublican8mos8MO
This may be reasonable. For some heinous criminals, it is also a warning to those who want to commit crimes.
@YearningCheeseGreen8mos8MO
It’s funny how America doesn’t realise it’s a barbaric **** hole.
@PepperFrankDemocrat8mos8MO
Starting to feel like the fact that the South lost was the actual lie. Perhaps a gentlemanly agreement that they could do what they wanted in the South so the federal govt got to export those things that worked to the rest of the country and outsource harm to a willing antagonist
@FreeTradeDovesDemocrat8mos8MO
@ISIDEWITH8mos8MO
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