COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — The South Carolina Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that the state's death penalty, which now includes a firing squad as well as lethal injection and the electric chair, is legal.
COLUMBIA, S.C. — The South Carolina Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that the state's death penalty, which now includes a firing squad as well as lethal injection and the electric chair, is legal.
As many as eight inmates may be out of traditional appeals. It is unclear when executions could restart or whether lawyers for death row inmates can appeal the ruling. South Carolina hasn't performed an execution since 2011. The state's supplies of drugs for lethal injections expired and no pharmaceutical companies would sell more if they could be publicly identified.
The Supreme Court allowed the inmates to add arguments that the shield law was too secret by not releasing the potency, purity and stabilization of lethal injection drugs. But lawyers for the inmates asked the justices to agree with Circuit Judge Jocelyn Newman who stopped executions with the electric chair or firing squad.
Too weak, and inmates may suffer without dying. Too strong, and the drug molecules can form tiny clumps that would cause intense pain when injected, according to court papers.
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