The South Carolina Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that death by firing squad and other forms of execution commonly considered cruel and unusual are legal in the state if the inmate requests the method of execution.
O decision 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 accidents during executions.
That law made electrocution the default execution method, as the state could not find a reliable source of 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 in the state following the decision.
No executions have been carried out 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 allowing the State to enforce its laws.” .
“The inescapable reality that an execution by any method may not go as planned – that it will be ‘botched’ – does not make the method ‘cruel’ under the Constitution,” he added.
The firing squad is only a legal method of execution in five states, and only three firing squad executions have occurred 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 primary method of execution in South Carolina following 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) praised the court’s ruling in a statement Wednesday.
“The Supreme Court legitimately defended the rule of law,” said the governor. “This decision is another step towards ensuring that legal sentences can be properly carried out and that victims’ families and loved ones receive the closure and justice they have long hoped for.”
This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story
