New law lets death row inmates choose between firing squad and electric chair [Video]

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster (R) approved a bill that forces death row prisoners to choose between firing squad and electric chair for execution.
• The law would take place if drugs needed for lethal injection are not available.
• The state had its last execution by lethal injection in May 2010.

The Associated Press reported that Gov. Henry McMaster (R-S.C.) enacted a measure into law Friday, giving the discretion to the death row prisoners to choose from either having a firing squad or electric chair if lethal injections are not feasible.

The proposed legislation was the first bill signed by the governor out of the 50 bills that were laid down in his desk on Thursday, per the AP. The measure mandates that lethal injection drugs are available, but if not, inmates will need to choose between the electric chair or a firing squad.

The AP reported that prosecutors noted that at least three death row inmates who had saturated their appeals could not be executed for picking lethal injection over the electric chair. As long as drugs are not available, their executions remain pending as it cannot happen in accordance with the past legislation.

It was still not clear when the law would actually be implemented. As of the moment, state officials are observing how other states have enforced firing squads.

Per the AP, the lawyers of the three death row prisoners with pending execution were planning to sue South Carolina following the new legislation.

“These are execution methods that previously were replaced by lethal injection, which is considered more humane, and it makes South Carolina the only state going back to the less humane execution methods,” attorney Lindsey Vann from the non-profit group Justice360 told the AP.

The AP also reported that some GOP members from the South Carolina state House were not in favor of the bill. They argued that they just enacted a recent law that banishes all abortions with the premise that ‘life is sacred.’

On the other hand, those who were in favor of the firing squad bill said that execution remains legal in South Carolina, and the bereaved families of death row prisoners should be considered.

The last time that South Carolina enforced execution was in May 2010, and the last available batch of lethal injection medicines lapsed in 2013. During the same period, drug manufacturers started pulling out the lethal injection drugs for legal execution purposes.

Source: The Hill