Charleston, S.C., Apr 11, 2022 / 13:00 pm
After the South Carolina Supreme Court set a date for the execution of Richard Moore, the Diocese of Charleston stated its opposition to capital punishment, and that the man must choose how his life will be ended.
“The Catholic Church stands firmly in opposition to the Supreme Court’s decision and the use of the death penalty in South Carolina. Mr. Moore must choose his means of execution – between the firing squad and electric chair. This is modern-day barbarism,” the Charleston diocese said in an April 8 statement.
Moore, 57, is scheduled to be executed April 29, and he must choose whether to be killed by firing squad or electric chair. South Carolina does not have the drugs used in lethal injections. Moore's lawyer's have asked for a stay, aruging that both possible means of execution are cruel or unusual, and that the death penalty is disproportionate to his crime.
In 1999, Moore tried to rob a convience store. He did not have a gun, but the clerk pulled a gun, and during the ensuing scuffle the clerk was shot and killed. Moore was convicted of murder, assault with intent to kill, armed robbery, and a firearms violation.