[Washington Examiner] South Carolina lawmakers voted this week to use firing squads as a way to perform executions to bypass a loophole in which death row inmates were able to extend their lives because of shortages for drugs needed for lethal injections.On Tuesday, a bipartisan group of state senators voted in favor of introducing death by firing squad, which was proposed as an amendment to an execution bill that would make the electric chair the only alternative to lethal injection. The Senate voted to approve the bill 32-11, with several Democrats joining Republicans on the proposal, though other Democrats also opposed it over their disagreement with the death penalty.
South Carolina has been unable to carry out executions because its supply of lethal injection drugs has expired, and it has been unable to buy more with pharmaceutical companies clamping down on their use for capital punishment. Under current law, inmates can choose between the electric chair and lethal injection but often choose the latter since it currently cannot be done due to the lack of drugs.
The Senate bill will keep lethal injection as an execution method if the drugs are available but would require prison officials to use the electric chair if they are not available. But an inmate would also be able to choose death by firing squad if he or she wants.