COLUMBIA, S.C. — The South Carolina Supreme Court has ruled that the state’s death penalty, which includes lethal injection, the electric chair, and a newly authorized firing squad, is constitutional. This decision paves the way for executions to potentially resume in a state that has not carried out any since 2011.
All five justices participated in the ruling, with some expressing concerns about the legality of the firing squad and deeming the electric chair as potentially cruel and unusual punishment. In the majority opinion, Associate Justice John Few stated that the law aims to mitigate pain, arguing that offering multiple methods of execution shows lawmakers’ intent to make the death penalty as humane as possible.
Currently, as many as eight inmates could be on the brink of execution, although it remains uncertain when or if executions will resume, or whether legal appeals will follow the ruling. Since the reinstatement of the death penalty in the U.S. in 1976, South Carolina has executed 43 inmates, primarily through lethal injection.
Few noted that allowing inmates to choose their execution method cannot be considered cruel, as it empowers them to opt for what they believe would cause the least suffering. However, the state has faced challenges in procuring lethal injection drugs, resulting in a suspension of executions since 2011.
In 2021, lawmakers introduced the option of a firing squad to provide inmates with more choices regarding their execution method. This decision led to legal challenges by inmates claiming that both options constituted cruel and unusual punishment as prohibited by the Constitution.
In 2023, the South Carolina Legislature enacted a shield law aimed at protecting the identities of lethal injection drug suppliers. The state reported in September that it had acquired the sedative pentobarbital and shifted the lethal injection process from a three-drug cocktail to a single-drug execution.
The Supreme Court has permitted inmates to challenge the shield law’s transparency, which has been called into question over the potency and purity of lethal injection drugs. South Carolina currently has 32 inmates on death row, with several facing ongoing legal battles.
The state argued that all execution methods align with existing death penalty protocols, stating in court that there is no requirement for an execution to be instantaneous or painless. On the other hand, inmate attorneys have cited expert testimony suggesting that executions by either electric chair or firing squad would inflict significant pain.
The lack of transparency surrounding the sourcing and testing of lethal injection drugs has raised concerns, with fears that inadequate drug quality could lead to either prolonged suffering or extreme pain during execution.
Historically, South Carolina maintained an average of three executions per year; however, the current climate of rising costs, limited drug availability, and stronger legal defenses has drastically reduced the number of new sentences to death row, with just three new cases over the past 13 years.
