Washington D.C., May 17, 2021 / 17:00 pm
South Carolina on Monday became the fourth state to officially sanction the use of the firing squad as a method of execution.
Gov. Henry McMaster (R) signed into law a bill allowing the state to execute death row inmates by electrocution or firing squad, if the drugs used for lethal injection are not available. Previously, lethal injection was the default method of execution in South Carolina.
The South Carolina legislature passed the bill earlier this month, sending it to McMaster’s desk.
The Diocese of Charleston, the state’s only Catholic diocese, told CNA it was “extremely disappointed” with the bill, as it effectively allows executions to resume in the Palmetto State after 10 years.