South Carolina Supreme Court rules death penalty by firing squad, other methods legal

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.”

“The inescapable reality that an execution by any method may not go as planned — that it will be ‘botched’ — does not render the method ‘cruel’ under the constitution,” he added.

Firing squad is only a legal method of execution in five states, and only three firing squad executions have taken place since 1976, all in Utah, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. It is the least common form of state execution.

Electrocution has been the main method of execution in South Carolina after the 2021 law and is also legal in seven other states, all of which use lethal injection as their primary method of execution.

Gov. Henry McMaster (R) lauded the court’s decision in a statement Wednesday.

“The Supreme Court has rightfully upheld the rule of law,” the governor said. “This decision is another step in ensuring that lawful sentences can be duly enforced and the families and loved ones of the victims receive the closure and justice they have long awaited.”