Governor: SC now able to carry out executions by lethal injection

COLUMBIA, SC (WOLO)– South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster announced that the state is now able to carry out executions by lethal injection.

In a release from the Governor’s office, Governor Henry McMaster and the S.C. Department of Corrections informed the South Carolina Supreme Court that the department is now prepared to carry out executions by lethal injection.

“Justice has been delayed for too long in South Carolina,” said Governor Henry McMaster. “This filing brings our state one step closer to being able to once again carry out the rule of law and bring grieving families and loved ones the closure they are rightfully owed.”

According to the Governor, lawmakers passed legislation this year to enact the Shield Statute, which protects, among other things, the identity of individuals or entities involved in the planning or execution of a death sentence. The Governor signed the Shield Statute into law on May 12, and the department continued its  efforts to secure the drugs with the new shield provision, say state officials.

McMaster says as a result of the efforts and the Shield Statute, SCDC was able to secure pentobarbital for carrying out an execution by lethal injection under a one-drug protocol.

The department’s lethal injection policy has been revised for the use of a one-drug protocol, according to the Governor’s office. Courts have upheld the use of this drug against constitutional challenges, according to the Governor’s office.

Per the Governor’s office, state law specifies the electric chair as the default method of execution while giving inmates the option of choosing death by firing squad or lethal injection if those methods are available.