South Carolina approves firing squads for executions
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The move comes as more U.S. states are doing away with the death penalty.
Just one month after 56 elected prosecutors released a statement decrying the state of capital punishment in the United States, South Carolina has expanded their means of execution. On March 18, the South Carolina Department of Corrections announced that they had fully renovated a death chamber to accommodate a firing squad.
Firing Squad
According to a press release, the electric chair is still the primary method for execution within the state, however now inmates on death row may choose between the chair, lethal injection and firing squad. The announcement goes on to explain that sentences will be carried out by three riflemen who will be out of view of witnesses. The provisions allow for the condemned to make a final statement, but make no mention of whether or not a religious representative can accompany them.
Members of the firing squads will be selected from volunteers already working in the Department of Corrections. Squad members will be selected based on certain shooting qualifications.
The New York Post reports that one of the reasons South Carolina decided to include firing squads is because the state has been struggling to find drugs for lethal injections.
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