COLUMBIA, S.C. — A state judge has ruled South Carolina’s execution methods of electrocution and the newly installed firing squad are cruel and unusual, therefore both violate the state Constitution.
“In 2021, South Carolina turned back the clock and became the only state in the country in which a person may be forced into the electric chair if he refuses to elect how he will die. In doing so, the General Assembly ignored advances in scientific research and evolving standards of humanity and decency,” Circuit Court Judge Jocelyn Newman wrote in a multipage opinion published Tuesday.
Newman’s 39-page ruling means the state is permanently enjoined from carrying out executions by either method, at least for the time being.
