Brett Wilkins is a staff writer for Common Dreams.
In a move described by death penalty abolitionists as 'barbaric,' South Carolina on Friday gave the final approval for executions by firing squad. According to The State, the South Carolina Department of Corrections informed state Attorney General Alan Wilson that the agency is now able to shoot condemned inmates to death using a three-person volunteer team.
The AP described the firing squad procedure: According to officials, the death chamber now also includes a metal chair, with restraints, in the corner of the room in which inmates will sit if they choose execution by firing squad. That chair faces a wall with a rectangular opening, 15 feet away, through which the three shooters will fire their weapons...