Richard Moore Faces Execution Method Decision

Richard Moore, a South Carolina death row inmate, faces execution on November 1 for the 1999 murder of store clerk James Mahoney. He has been asked to choose his method of execution—firing squad, lethal injection, or electric chair—by October 18, with a failure to decide resulting in default electrocution. Moore's case is notable as he is the only death row inmate in South Carolina convicted by an all-white jury and the first to be sentenced to death after entering a robbery unarmed. He has appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court and requested clemency from Governor Henry McMaster, who has historically not granted such requests. Legal arguments suggest McMaster may be biased against Moore due to his past role as attorney general, which complicates the clemency process. The execution would mark a significant moment in South Carolina's execution history, as there has been a long pause in executions since 2011.