Capital punishment in South Carolina

Capital punishment is a legal penalty in the U.S. state of South Carolina. Between 1718 and 2021, more than 680 people have been executed in South Carolina.[1] Since a nationwide capital punishment ban was overturned in 1976, South Carolina has executed 43 people.[2]

The state executed 43 people between 1985 and 2011, after which no one was executed for over a decade because pharmaceutical companies were not selling the drugs for lethal injections that were legalised as the primary form of execution in 1995, and the existing inmates were able to appeal their sentences. Under the passage of Act 43 of 2021, executions are expected to resume with the electric chair as the primary form of execution.[3]

When the prosecution seeks the death penalty, sentence is not passed by the judge. The sentence is decided by the jury and must be unanimous.

In case of a hung jury during the penalty phase of the trial, a life sentence is issued, even if a single juror opposed death (there is no retrial).[4]

The governor has the power of clemency with respect to death sentences.[5]

The methods of execution are lethal injection, electrocution, and firing squad.[6][7]

On January 30, 2019, South Carolina's Senate voted 26–13 in favor of a revived proposal to bring back the electric chair and add firing squads to its execution options.[8][9] On May 14, 2021, South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster signed a bill into law which brought back the electric chair as the default method of execution (in the event lethal injection was unavailable) and added the firing squad to the list of execution options. This made South Carolina the first state to use a method other than lethal injection as its primary execution method since 2009, when Nebraska switched over to that method, also from electrocution. South Carolina has not performed executions in over a decade, and its lethal injection drugs expired in 2013. Pharmaceutical companies have since refused to sell drugs for lethal injection.[10][11][12] The law is Act 43 of 2021.

Capital crimes

Murder can be punished by death if the crime involved certain aggravating factors, as listed under Section 16-3-655, Title 16, Chapter 3, Section 655, of the South Carolina Code of Laws. South Carolina provides for the death penalty for criminal sexual conduct with a minor if the offender was a repeat offender having previously been convicted of, pled guilty or nolo contendere to, or adjudicated delinquent for first degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor who is less than eleven years of age or a federal or out-of-state offense that would constitute first degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor who is less than eleven years of age had it been committed in South Carolina [4]

See also

References
  1. "From hanging pirates to firing squads, pictures reveal 303-year history of SC executions". The State. 2021.
  2. "They executed people for the state of South Carolina. For some, it nearly destroyed them". The State. 2021.
  3. "South Carolina Legislature - S.0200". SC Legislator. State. Retrieved 2021-06-11.
  4. "Code of Laws - Title 16 - Chapter 3 - Offenses Against The Person". South Carolina Legislature.
  5. "Article IV Executive Department". law.justia.com. Retrieved June 4, 2016.
  6. Collins, Jeffery (17 May 2021). "New law makes inmates choose electric chair or firing squa". Associated Press. Retrieved 17 May 2021.
  7. "Section 24-3-530. Death by electrocution or lethal injection". law.justia.com. Retrieved June 4, 2016.
  8. Barton, Tom (30 January 2019). "SC senators resurrect bill to bring back the electric chair, add firing squad". The State. Retrieved 17 May 2021.
  9. "2019-2020 Bill 176: Executions - South Carolina Legislature Online". www.scstatehouse.gov. Retrieved 2021-05-17.
  10. Collins, Jeffrey (2021-05-17). "South Carolina Law Forces Death Row Inmates To Choose Firing Squad Or Electric Chair". HuffPost. Retrieved 2021-05-17.
  11. "SC governor signs law".
  12. "2021-2022 Bill 200: Executions". www.scstatehouse.gov.
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