New law makes inmates choose between electric chair or firing squad
Jeffrey Collins
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FILE - This March 2019, file photo, provided by the South Carolina Department of Corrections shows the state s electric chair in Columbia, S.C. South Carolina House members may soon debate whether to restart the state s stalled death penalty with the electric chair and whether to add a firing squad to the execution methods. The state s House Judiciary Committee approved a bill Tuesday, April 27, 2021, that would let condemned inmates choose death by being shot in the heart by several sharpshooters. (Kinard Lisbon/South Carolina Department of Corrections via AP, File) (South Carolina Department of Corrections)
AP
COLUMBIA, S.C. South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster has signed into law a bill that forces death row inmates for now to choose between the electric chair or a newly formed firing squad in hopes the state can restart executions after an involuntary 10-year pause.
South Carolina had been one of the most prolific states of its size in putting inmates to death. But a lack of lethal injection drugs brought executions to a halt.
McMaster signed the bill Friday with no ceremony or fanfare, according to the state Legislature’s website. It’s the first bill the governor decided to deal with after nearly 50 hit his desk Thursday.
New death penalty law makes inmates pick electric chair or firing squad in South Carolina
May 17, 2021 / 12:47 PM / CBS/AP
South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster has signed into law a bill that forces death row inmates for now to choose between the electric chair or a newly formed firing squad in hopes the state can restart executions after an involuntary 10-year pause. South Carolina had been one of the most prolific states of its size in putting inmates to death, but a lack of lethal injection drugs brought executions to a halt.
McMaster signed the bill Friday with no ceremony or fanfare, according to the state Legislature s website. It s the first bill the governor decided to deal with after nearly 50 hit his desk Thursday.
South Carolina’s death row inmates will have to choose between two controversial execution methods the electric chair or a firing squad until the state is able to buy lethal injection drugs, Gov. Henry McMaster confirmed Monday.
The Associated Press
South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster has signed into law a bill that forces death row inmates for now to choose between the electric chair or a newly formed firing squad in hopes the state can restart executions after an involuntary 10-year pause.
South Carolina had been one of the most prolific states of its size in putting inmates to death. But a lack of lethal injection drugs brought executions to a halt.
McMaster signed the bill Friday with no ceremony or fanfare, according to the state Legislature’s website. It’s the first bill the governor decided to deal with after nearly 50 hit his desk Thursday.