SC Court Upholds Electrocution, Firing Squad Options

The South Carolina Supreme Court ruled that lethal injection, electrocution and the firing squad are constitutional, upholding a 2021 law that made electrocution the default method while preserving alternatives if lethal-injection drugs are unavailable. Justice John Cannon Few wrote for the majority, saying lawmakers made a “sincere effort” to reduce inhumanity and that the risk an execution may be “botched” does not render a method unconstitutional; the ruling reverses a lower-court decision. The decision was not unanimous, with Chief Justice Donald Beatty and Justice John Kittredge expressing partial dissent or concerns that some methods may be cruel or unusual. Gov. Henry McMaster and other Republican leaders praised the ruling, and the Department of Corrections said it is ready to resume executions; the state has 32 people on death row. The law and ruling were prompted by an inability to procure lethal-injection drugs (and a supplier “shield” law), while opponents say the death penalty is costly, risky and inhumane.