South Carolina wants to bring back firing squads and the electric chair as the state argues that “painless” deaths are not mandated.
Among the 33 inmates on death row in the Palmetto State, four argued that the electric chair and firing squad were cruel and unusual punishment. Inmates also claim the 2023 law allowing lethal injection is too secretive about many details of the new drug.
However, the governor of the Palmetto State disagreed, saying all three methods fit existing protocols and that painless execution is not mandated by law.
“Courts have never ruled that death must be instantaneous or painless,” wrote Grayson Lambert, a lawyer for Gov. Henry McMaster’s office.
Currently, the electric chair serves as South Carolina’s second option if lethal injection doesn’t work. Lawmakers added firing squads to the list of options in 2021.
In September, the state changed its lethal injection method to using the sedative pentobarbital, meaning inmates only need one injection instead of three. Very little is known about the new drug and prison officials have only said the method is similar to protocols followed by the federal government and six other states.
Among the 33 inmates on death row in the Palmetto State, four argued the electric chair and firing squad were cruel and unusual punishment. AP
Prisoners think pentobarbital, compounded and mixed, has a shelf life of about 45 days. They want to know if there is a regular supplier for the drug and what guidelines are in place for testing the drug.
If the drug is too weak, a prisoner may not die. If it is too strong, it can form small clots that will cause severe pain when injected, court papers allege.
“No inmate in this country has ever been put to death with little transparency about how he or she will be executed,” wrote Justice 360 attorney Lindsey Vann.
The state attorney, however, argued the inmates only wanted the information so they could find drug companies and pressure them to stop.
The state has not proposed adding nitrogen gas, like Alabama, which recently conducted its first implementation using the toxic chemical.
However, Southern states disagreed, saying all three methods fit existing protocols and offer painless executions are not mandated. Currently, South Carolina’s second choice if lethal injection doesn’t work is the electric chair. AP
South Carolina has not carried out an execution in nearly 13 years after the drug used for lethal injection expired and companies refused to sell to prisons unless they could hide their identities from the public.
During Tuesday’s 90-minute hearing, the judge questioned whether the firing squad would be considered unusual punishment because it had only been used three times in total in 50 years and all had occurred in Utah.
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They also question the electrical conductivity of the human skull and whether modern science has an answer to whether the method was more painful or cruel and was originally ruled a century ago.
South Carolina is asking the Supreme Court to overturn a 2022 lower court ruling that said electric chairs and firing squads are cruel.
Circuit Judge Jocelyn Newman ruled in favor of the inmates in November, saying the inmates would face excruciating pain whether their bodies were “cooked” by 2,000 volts of electricity or if they were shot three times by a firing squad.
More than a decade ago, South Carolina carried out about three executions each year and had about 60 death row inmates. Since then, several have won appeals, bringing the total down to 33.
Only three inmates have been sentenced to death in the past 13 years in the state because of the lack of lethal injection drugs and stronger defenses against them. Many prosecutors now accept life sentences without parole rather than seek the death penalty.
With Postal wire.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
