COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina can execute death row inmates by firing squad, lethal injection or the electric chair, the state’s high court ruled Wednesday, opening the door to restart executions after more than a decade.
All five justices agreed with at least part of the ruling. But two of the justices said they felt the firing squad was not a legal way to kill an inmate and one of them felt the electric chair is a cruel and unusual punishment.
In the U.S., 27 states allow the death penalty, but only seven have executed inmates in the past three years as attorneys and advocates argue over excessive pain, proper procedures and the legality of new methods, such as suffocation by nitrogen gas or firing squads that have rarely been used outside the military.
“We start by acknowledging the reality that there is simply no elegant way to kill a man,” Justice John Few wrote in the majority opinion.
South Carolina allowing inmates to choose from the three execution methods is far from an effort to inflict pain but a sincere attempt at making the death penalty less inhumane, Few wrote.
As many as eight inmates may be out of traditional appeals. It is unclear when executions could restart or if there will be appeals.
“We are currently evaluating the next steps in the litigation and remain committed to advocating for the protection of our clients’ rights,” said Lindsey Vann, an attorney for Justice 360, an advocacy group for inmates.
South Carolina can carry out any of the three methods as soon as the state Supreme Court issues an execution order, Corrections Department Director Bryan Stirling said.
“Choice cannot be considered cruel because the condemned inmate may elect to have the State employ the method he and his lawyers believe will cause him the least pain,” Few wrote.
South Carolina has executed 43 inmates since the death penalty was restarted in the U.S. in 1976. Nearly all inmates have chosen lethal injection since it became an option in 1995.
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 justices said the state was allowed to use one drug instead of three after a shield law passed in 2023 allowed officials to keep lethal injection drug suppliers secret and get the sedative pentobarbital in September.
Lawmakers authorized the state to create a firing squad in 2021 to give inmates a choice between it and the same electric chair that state bought in 1912. The inmates sued, saying either choice was cruel and unusual punishment prohibited by the Constitution.
Four of the five justices agreed that all three methods aren't considered cruel under the state constitution. Justice John Kittredge said he would rule the firing squad was illegal because it was unusual — it has been available since South Carolina became a state but never used.
Chief Justice Don Beatty said the electric chair and firing squad are both cruel. A firing squad would leave a bloody scene and there would be no assurance that the three executioners would precisely target the heart, he said. The electric chair is rarely used anymore because it's painful and disfiguring, with “prisoners being engulfed in flames, suffering extensive burns, and bleeding prior to death," Beatty said.
Beatty compared the electric chair to burning someone at the stake.
“The only difference, in my view, is the ‘modernization’ in the last century of the means of ignition — from a match to electric current. The end result of the process, for all intents and purposes, remains the same,” Beatty wrote.
The justices said the prison director still must provide proof the lethal injection drug is stable and correctly mixed. Inmates can sue if they disagree with the determination and the court promised a prompt decision.
South Carolina has 32 inmates on its death row. Four prisoners are suing, but four more have also run out of appeals, although two of them face a competency hearing before they could be executed, according to Justice 360.
Gov. Henry McMaster said the justices interpreted the law correctly. “This decision is another step in ensuring that lawful sentences can be duly enforced and the families and loved ones of the victims receive the closure and justice they have long awaited,” he said in a statement.
The state said in its argument before the state Supreme Court in February that lethal injection, electrocution and firing squad all fit existing death penalty protocols. “Courts have never held the death has to be instantaneous or painless,” wrote Grayson Lambert, a lawyer for the governor’s office.
South Carolina used to carry out an average of three executions a year and had more than 60 inmates on death row when the last execution was carried out in 2011. Since then, successful appeals and natural deaths have lowered the number to 32.
Prosecutors have sent only three new prisoners to death row in the past 13 years. Facing rising costs, the lack of lethal injection drugs and more vigorous defenses, they are choosing to accept guilty pleas and life in prison without parole even in some cases where a convicted murderer was originally sent to death row by a jury.
FILE - This undated photo provided by the South Carolina Department of Corrections shows the state's death chamber in Columbia, S.C., including the electric chair, right, and a firing squad chair, left. Quincy Allen, 44, was taken off death row Monday, July 22, 2024, after agreeing to a life sentence when a federal court overturned his 2005 death sentence for killing two people in South Carolina. (South Carolina Department of Corrections via AP, File)
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Bryce Harper homered twice, Cal Stevenson hit a two-run, go-ahead double in the seventh and made a run-saving, highlight-reel catch in the eighth and the NL East-leading Philadelphia Phillies rallied to cool off the New York Mets with a 6-4 victory on Saturday.
J.T. Realmuto added an RBI double for the Phillies, who have won 10 of 13 and lead the Mets by eight games in the division. The teams will wrap up the three-game series on Sunday afternoon before the Mets host the Phillies for four games Sept. 19-22.
“Really good team win today,” Harper said. “It's a big win. That's a good team over there, and they're playing well.”
Starling Marte singled, tripled and drove in three runs and Luisangel Acuña had a pair of singles in his major-league debut for the Mets, who lost for just the third time in the last 15 games. New York began play Saturday holding the final wild card spot in the National League, one game ahead of the Braves.
With his team down 4-0, Harper launched the first of his two drives off starter Luis Severino with one out in the fourth, a 397-foot opposite-field drive off an 85-mph changeup. He pulled Philadelphia within 4-3 in the sixth with a two-run shot off an 87-mph slider that came on a 3-2 count. The two-time NL MVP, who hadn't homered since Aug. 9, has 28 home runs on the year.
“It felt like a playoff atmosphere, felt like a big situation,” Harper said. “I love that.”
Philadelphia went ahead in the seventh. Danny Young (4-1) surrendered a pair of singles to Bryson Stott and Realmuto to start the frame, with both advancing on Brandon Marsh’s sacrifice bunt. Young slammed his glove and hat into the bench in New York’s dugout in frustration after being lifted by manager Carlos Mendoza for Reed Garrett.
Garrett struck out pinch-hitter Weston Wilson before Stevenson clubbed a 3-2, 92-mph cutter to the wall in right to score Stott and Realmuto.
“Just a huge at-bat by him,” Harper said.
Jeff Hoffman pitched a scoreless eighth, and Carlos Estévez finished it in the ninth for his 26th save in 31 chances and sixth in eight tries since joining the Phillies prior to the trade deadline.
Hoffman got some help from Stevenson in center field when he robbed J.D. Martinez of a home run with a leaping catch at the wall for the first out of the eighth.
Orion Kerkering (5-2) worked a 1-2-3 seventh after Taijuan Walker tossed three scoreless innings in relief of starter Kolby Allard.
New York gave Severino a four-run cushion. Marte worked a bases-loaded walk in the first before hitting a two-run triple off Allard in the Mets’ three-run third inning to continue his success against Philadelphia. Marte is batting .375 in his career against the Phillies.
Allard, the fourth different No. 5 starter used in as many trips through the rotation, lasted just three innings, surrendering three earned runs on five hits with three walks and three strikeouts. Walker, whom the Phillies signed to a four-year, $72 million free-agent deal prior to the 2023 season, excelled in his new role after getting demoted to the bullpen due to ineffectiveness as a starter.
“He's a great teammate,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said of Walker. “He's handled this like a pro.”
Walker was happy to contribute in a positive way.
“It feels good,” he said. “I feel like I haven't done a good job of helping the team this year. Today was the best I felt all year."
Acuña recorded his first hit with a single to center field off Walker leading off the fourth and started the ninth with a single to center off Estévez. Acuña, a younger brother of Atlanta Braves star Ronald Acuña Jr., is one of the organization’s top prospects. He hit .258 with 40 steals while splitting time among second base, shortstop and center field with Triple-A Syracuse.
“Good to see him fight and get us going in the ninth,” Mendoza said. “I thought he was good.”
Acuña, 22, started at shortstop and batted ninth. He came over when the Mets traded Max Scherzer to Texas in July 2023. Acuña was promoted one day after All-Star shortstop Francisco Lindor left Friday night’s 11-3 victory against the Phillies in the seventh inning because of lower back soreness. Mendoza said the move was precautionary following the game and made the decision to give Lindor another day of rest and recovery.
Severino gave up three runs on six hits with five strikeouts and a walk in six innings. The 30-year-old right-hander made two All-Star teams with the Yankees before signing a one-year, $13 million deal in the offseason with the Mets after struggling to an injury-plagued season and 6.65 ERA in 2023.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Phillies: 3B Alec Bohm (left hand strain) and INF Edmundo Sosa (back spasms) played for Triple-A Lehigh Valley in rehab assignments on Saturday. ... Harper winced while batting in the eighth, flexing his right arm. He recently told MLB.com that he was playing with a sore wrist and sore right elbow.
Mets: Marte was drilled on the left forearm by a 95-mph sinker from Hoffman in the eighth but stayed in the game.
UP NEXT
Mets LHP David Peterson (9-2, 2.98) opposes Philadelphia LHP Cristopher Sánchez (10-9, 3.33) in the finale of the three-game series on Sunday afternoon.
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
New York Mets' Mark Vientos, left, scores past Philadelphia Phillies' J.T. Realmuto, right, during the third inning of a baseball game, Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Derik Hamilton)
New York Mets' Jose Iglesias, left, scores after Philadelphia Phillies' Kolby Allard, right, walked Mets' Starling Marte with the bases loaded during the first inning of a baseball game, Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Derik Hamilton)
New York Mets' Brandon Nimmo, right, high-fives Francisco Alvarez (4) after scoring during the third inning of a baseball game, Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Derik Hamilton)
Philadelphia Phillies' Cal Stevenson reacts after hitting a two-run double off New York Mets' Reed Garrett during the seventh inning of a baseball game, Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Derik Hamilton)
Philadelphia Phillies' Cal Stevenson, right, watches his two-run double off New York Mets' Reed Garrett during the seventh inning of a baseball game, Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Derik Hamilton)
Philadelphia Phillies' Bryce Harper, right, watches his two-run home run off New York Mets' Luis Severino during the sixth inning of a baseball game, Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Derik Hamilton)
Philadelphia Phillies' Bryce Harper reacts after hitting a two-run home run off New York Mets' Luis Severino during the sixth inning of a baseball game, Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Derik Hamilton)
