COLUMBIA, S.C. — The South Carolina Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on the execution method of four death row inmates at 11:30 a.m. Thursday, Jan. 5.
South Carolina Department of Corrections and Governor Henry McMaster filed an appeal to a circuit court judge's ruling last year that said four death row inmates cannot be executed using the electric chair or firing squad.
In her ruling, Judge Jocelyn Newman said the execution methods violate the state's constitution which bars "cruel and unusual punishment."
All four of the inmates -- Freddie Eugene Owens, Brad Keith Sigmon, Gary DuBose Terry, and Richard Bernard Moore -- are convicted murderers.
Back in 2021, South Carolina Democrat Senator Dick Harpootlian and Republican Senator Greg Hembree argued in favor of adding the firing squad option.
The approved measure was signed into law by Gov. McMaster and made South Carolina the fourth state in the country to allow use of a firing squad. The move also made the electric chair the default method for executions in the state.
The state's last execution was performed in 2011, when the methods of execution were lethal injection or electrocution. When South Carolina's supply of lethal injection drugs expired in 2013, and pharmaceutical companies refused to sell the state more, an involuntary pause in executions resulted for inmates opting for lethal injection.