South Carolina weighs reintroduction of executions via firing squad, electric chair

South Carolina would like to bring back the firing squad, which is still legal in that state, as a means of execution for death row inmates.

Their argument?

Executions do not have to be quick and painless.

The Palmetto State would also like to bring back the electric chair as an execution option.

Grayson Lambert, a lawyer from the office of Republican Gov. Henry McMaster, said, “courts have never held the death has to be instantaneous or painless.”

However, multiple lawyers representing South Carolina inmates on death row disagree with Lambert.

Those lawyers are already arguing that both of the proposed methods are forms of “cruel and unusual punishment,” which would make the methods a violation of death row inmates’ constitutional rights.

According to Wikipedia, the electric chair is currently still an option for execution in the following states:

• Alabama
• Florida
• Kentucky
• Tennessee

According to governing.com, firing squads are still legal in the following states:

• Mississippi
• Oklahoma
• South Carolina
• Utah

As such, the notion of South Carolina actually bringing back the electric chair or the firing squad may not be out of the question.

Do you think the state should revive these methods?

Let us know in the comments below.