Richard Moore Faces Execution Amid Clemency Pleas

Richard Moore, a Black man on South Carolina's death row, is scheduled for execution by lethal injection, facing significant appeals for clemency due to alleged racial bias in his trial. Convicted by an all-white jury for the 1999 murder of a convenience store clerk during a robbery, Moore claims the killing was in self-defense and was unarmed at the time. His clemency plea is supported by two jurors, the original trial judge, a former state supreme court justice, and Moore's family, arguing that his sentence reflects racial discrimination and he has rehabilitated. Efforts to delay the execution, including an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, have been denied, leaving clemency from Governor Henry McMaster as Moore's last hope. The governor, who has not granted clemency in any of the 44 executions since the death penalty's reinstatement, has promised to review the petition, which includes over 50,000 signatures, comprehensively. Moore's case has attracted attention amid discussions of racial bias and the appropriateness of capital punishment in the U.S.