Death by firing squad clears South Carolina House

(The Center Square) – The South Carolina House has approved allowing a firing squad to be an option for the death penalty for a prisoner on death row.

Oklahoma, Mississippi and Utah are the states that allow for death penalty by firing squad.

An amended Senate Bill 200 passed the House on Thursday on its third reading, 65-43, and was sent back to the Senate for approval before being passed on to Gov. Henry McMaster, who previously has said he would sign the bill.

Much of the debate on the bill centered on the morality of the death penalty as lawmakers such as Rep. Jonathon Hill, R-Anderson, said, ”I don’t think it’s really arguable that we have a de facto moratorium on the death penalty right now and this bill ends that.”

Hill said that he is bothered by the fact that national statistics indicate 1-in-9 death penalty convictions are determined later to be incorrect.

“Human life matters. Taking a human life matters,” Hill said. “ … We can’t stand in here and pretend that our justice system gets it right 100% of the time.

“Doesn’t the death penalty make injustice permanent? … I am not comfortable handing out a death penalty verdict when we get 1-in-9 wrong,” Hill said.

The amended bill says death penalty prisoners can choose which method of death they choose between electrocution, firing squad or lethal injection based on what’s available at the time. Current legislation makes lethal injection the default, but the drugs to administer have been unavailable for states to purchase.

While presenting several amendments that ultimately failed, Rep. Justin Bamberg, D-Bamberg, showed photos of failed death penalty attempts and said there is a reason photos of death penalty cases are kept private.

“This is not some random bill,” Bamberg said. “This is not some bill we’re taking up to prove a point to somebody or a political agenda. We’re talking about life and death.”

Bamberg dug into South Carolina history, using the example of 14-year-old George Stinney, the youngest person ever executed, and how his conviction was overturned in 2014.

“Not only did South Carolina give the electric chair to the youngest person ever in America,” Bamberg said. “The boy was innocent. And, what do we say, ‘Oops?’ “

Proponents of the bill focused on the wording of the legislation, which allows a death row inmate to choose the method of death more than 14 days before the execution. The prisoner must be informed of that choice by the state and then choose, with electrocution being the default method if no choice is made.

South Carolina has not executed a prisoner since 2011, but lawmakers said the focus of the bill was on three individuals who currently are on death row.

“In the Senate, we have the sword,” Rep. Josiah Magnuson, R-Spartanburg, said. “It’s the implement of force. And that’s what civil government exists to do is to wield force. Not to initiate force, but to use it in a responsive capacity.

“We don’t go out and prevent crime from happening but we respond and we provide justice to those who need it.”

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