A South Carolina judge heard arguments on Monday on whether to temporarily halt a law effectively forcing death row prisoners to choose the electric chair or a firing squad. The lawsuit was filed shortly after Governor Henry McMaster signed a bill aimed at restarting executions after a 10-year pause when the state ran out of lethal injection drugs. They’re attempting to make South Carolina the first American jurisdiction to revert to a more brutal, less humane, more onerous method of execution.”The South Carolina supreme court set Sigmon’s execution for 18 June after officials indicated the chair was ready. Sigmon’s attorneys are arguing in federal court that South Carolina is not trying hard enough to obtain drugs. South Carolina is one of eight states to still use the electric chair and four to allow a firing squad, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.

Source: The Guardian June 07, 2021 17:15 UTC