Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

SC Death Row Inmates Forced to Choose Between Execution Methods After Gov Signs Morbid New Law

SC Death Row Inmates Forced to Choose Between Execution Methods After Gov Signs Morbid New Law
Sean Rayford/Getty Images // Subsociety/Getty Images

The Eighth Amendment of the United States Constitution demands that "cruel and unusual" punishments can't be employed for anyone found guilty of a crime.

The term "cruel and unusual" was deliberately broad, with the founding fathers anticipating the inevitability of society's shifting attitudes toward criminal punishment.


South Carolina shifted backwards in those attitudes earlier this week after its Republican governor, William McMaster, signed a bill designed to navigate the state's shortage of drugs for lethal injection.

While the law still allows for death row inmates to opt for lethal injection, electrocution, or firing squad, the new law reverses a policy that granted stays of execution for those who chose lethal injection if supplies weren't available. Now, if lethal injection chemicals aren't in supply, the inmates will be forced to choose between shock or squads. If they choose neither, electrocution becomes the default method.

South Carolina hasn't executed anyone in a decade due to a lack of these drugs. The bill's supporters have said that, because the death penalty is legal, the state has an obligation to carry out death sentences.

The Republican-majority Senate initially offered legislation that only allowed for the electric chair, until state Senator Dick Harpootlian, a Democrat, offered an amendment to allow the option of a firing squad, believing this was more humane.

The morbid decision was met with lawsuits from two death row inmates whose appeals have dried up. They argue that because they were sentenced during a time lethal injection was the default, they cannot constitutionally be executed by firing squad or the electric chair.

South Carolina's law revived widespread calls to abolish the death penalty.






Many found support for the death penalty from "pro-life" Republicans to be hypocritical at best.



It's unclear when the executions will begin.

More from News

Jeff Ross
Mike Coppola/Variety via Getty Images

Comedian Jeff Ross Shares Photos Of Puffed Up Lip After Allergic Reaction To Ice Cream

Insult comic Jeff Ross revealed he had a medical emergency after a show Saturday night that resulted in a trip to the ER. However, he assured fans the show must go on despite "looking like Mickey Rourke at the end of The Wrestler."

Ross recounted the ordeal on Instagram, showing his swollen lip taking over his face from eating burrata ice cream after his Take a Banana for the Ride show in Mill Valley, California, near San Francisco.

Keep ReadingShow less
screenshot of Jesse Watters on Fox News
Fox News

Jesse Watters Offers Mind-Numbing New Claim About Masculinity—And Is Instantly Dragged

Problematic Fox News MAGA pundit Jesse Watters has made another bizarre claim about masculinity.

Having already taken exception with eating ice cream, drinking milkshakes, and taking bubble baths, Watters is now targeting tech jobs.

Keep ReadingShow less
Donald Trump with the Dodgers
Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

Trump Leaves Everyone Confused With Hilariously Bizarre Word Salad Tribute To The Dodgers

President Donald Trump was widely mocked after he welcomed the 2024 World Series-winning Los Angeles Dodgers to the White House on Monday with a bizarre, tangential, and rambling speech.

The team arrived at the White House on Monday morning, where Trump, in his remarks, praised two-way star Shohei Ohtani and infielder Mookie Betts. The Dodgers had defeated the New York Yankees in five games to clinch their second World Series title in five seasons.

Keep ReadingShow less
Donald Trump
Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

Trump Roasted After Giving Clunky New Nickname To People Criticizing His Tariffs

President Donald Trump was criticized after he pushed back against critics of his tariffs, coming up with a new nickname for the "weak and stupid" people who oppose them.

The Trump administration’s newly imposed tariffs on imports from various countries have unsettled consumers, triggered a trade war, disrupted global markets, and sparked widespread fears of a potential recession in the U.S. and beyond.

Keep ReadingShow less

Childhood Experiences People Thought Were 'Normal' But Weren't At All

Content Warning: Child neglect, child abuse, narcissism, gaslighting, people-pleasing, and other traumatic childhood experiences

It's important for us to work on ourselves, to continue bettering ourselves throughout our limited time on this earth, and a key way of doing that is acknowledging what we do not know, and working on that.

Keep ReadingShow less