{"id":1635892,"date":"2022-09-07T21:36:24","date_gmt":"2022-09-08T01:36:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1635892"},"modified":"2022-09-07T21:37:19","modified_gmt":"2022-09-08T01:37:19","slug":"electric-chair-firing-squad-executions-ruled-unconstitutional-in-south-carolina","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/electric-chair-firing-squad-executions-ruled-unconstitutional-in-south-carolina\/","title":{"rendered":"Electric Chair, Firing Squad Executions Ruled Unconstitutional In South Carolina"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Felectric-chair-firing-squad-executions-ruled-unconstitutional-in-south-carolina%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1635892&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Death by firing squad and electric chair execution violate the South Carolina Constitution, a state judge\u00a0<a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/publicindex.sccourts.org\/Richland\/PublicIndex\/PIImageDisplay.aspx?ctagency=40002&amp;doctype=D&amp;docid=1662496626801-246&amp;HKey=905471478050481171159067977773103567010647576711157475798478911310210112179659850113994799827852\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">ruled<\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0Tuesday.<\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Circuit Court Judge Jocelyn Newman ruled that the style of executions inflicted cruel and unusual punishment, which nullified a state law passed last year that forced death row inmates to pick one of the two methods, with electrocution as the default procedure.<\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u201cIn 2021, South Carolina turned back the clock and became the only state in the country in which a person may be forced into the electric chair if he refuses to elect how he will die,\u201d Newman wrote. \u201cIn doing so, the General Assembly ignored advances in scientific research and evolving standards of humanity and decency.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The 39-page opinion comes after four death row inmates sued the South Carolina Department of Corrections, the department\u2019s director Bryan Stirling, and Governor Henry McMaster over the execution methods. The plaintiffs, all convicted of at least one murder and sentenced to death between 1997 and 2002, claim that the state\u2019s procedures for terminating death row inmates are unconstitutional.<\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Inmates further noted that the state law officials restarted last year was \u201cretroactive\u201d and violated their due process rights, which rendered their right to decide between the execution methods.<\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Newman concluded her opinion after listening to medical experts during a four-day trial last month at the Richland County courthouse. The judge noted that such execution methods don\u2019t provide enough scientific evidence to result in instant death or cause an inmate to experience pain for up to 15 seconds if the methods are botched.<\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The judge called high-voltage deaths unconstitutional due to the lack of evidence that it terminates a life instantly.<\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">During electrocution, inmates are first shocked with 2,000 volts using copper electrodes attached to the right leg and head, which allows the current to run through the inmate for 4.5 seconds. Then, authorities pump another two electric currents of 1,000 volts for eight seconds and 120 volts for two minutes into the inmate\u2019s body.<\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Newman said the experience could cause \u201cintolerable pain and suffering from electrical burns, thermal heating, oxygen deprivation, muscle tetany, and the experience of high-voltage electrocution.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">South Carolina has used the same wooden chair with leather straps to execute 284 inmates since 1912. The state began using lethal injection in 1995.<\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Concerning firing squads, Newman said that the method reverts the state to a \u201chistoric method of execution that has never been used\u201d in South Carolina or most other states in the Union. Newman detailed in her opinion why the firing squad style of execution poses an unusual punishment.<\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Authorities strap hooded inmates to a backless metal chair until they are completely restrained. Then, a physician places an \u201caiming point\u201d over the inmate\u2019s heart where a three-member team armed with rifles containing .308 Winchester 110-grain TAP urban ammunition fires up to three volleys of bullets from 15 feet away.<\/p>\n<p>The Washington Post <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/nation\/2022\/09\/07\/south-carolina-firing-squad-electric-chair\/\">reports<\/a> that electrocution is allowed as an alternative in Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi, Oklahoma, and Tennessee; inmates can select it in Florida and Kentucky. While Mississippi, Oklahoma, and Utah are the only other states that allow execution by firing squad.<\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">While attorneys for the death row inmates applauded the results and would further review the court order, Newman said the defendants would likely appeal the decision.<\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The State <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thestate.com\/news\/politics-government\/article264724319.html\">reports<\/a> that Chrysti Shain, spokeswoman for the state Department of Corrections, said Tuesday they would \u201cassess the order and determine the next step.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Governor Henry McMaster told reporters Wednesday his office plans to appeal Newman\u2019s ruling.<\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u201cThere have been a lot of cases in the U.S. Supreme Court as well \u2014 it\u2019s been explained by the justices a number of times,\u201d McMaster said. \u201cThe question is not the method but the procedure to get to the method.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u201cOur Legislature and others have done a good job in fashioning the best we can do for these sentences,\u201d he added. \u201cI think that our South Carolina law is constitutional.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Death by firing squad and electric chair execution violate the South Carolina Constitution, a state judge\u00a0ruled\u00a0Tuesday. Circuit Court Judge Jocelyn Newman ruled that the style of executions inflicted cruel and unusual punishment, which nullified a state law passed last year that forced death row inmates to pick one of the two methods, with electrocution as &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1635894,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1635892","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1635892","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1635892"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1635892\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1635894"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1635892"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1635892"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1635892"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}