South Carolina Supreme Court Upholds Death Penalty Methods

The South Carolina Supreme Court has ruled that all methods of execution, including the electric chair and firing squad, are constitutional, allowing the state to resume executions for the first time in over a decade. The majority opinion, written by Justice John Few, emphasized that providing inmates with a choice among execution methods mitigates concerns about cruel and unusual punishment. Dissenting justices voiced concerns about the firing squad being 'unusual' and the electric chair as potentially cruel. The ruling reverses a previous decision declaring these methods unconstitutional, following legislative changes aimed at addressing drug supply issues for lethal injections. The state has 32 inmates awaiting execution, but no specific dates have been set yet. This decision has reignited debate over the ethics of capital punishment and the implications of using less common execution methods.