ACLU of South Carolina Statement on Death Penalty Legislation Signed by Governor

South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster signed S. 200 into law, which took effect upon his signature. The law updates the state’s death penalty procedures  to require death row inmates to choose between firing squad and the electric chair. The following statement is from Frank Knaack, executive director of the ACLU of South Carolina:

“In the midst of a national reckoning around systemic racism, our Governor ensured that South Carolina’s death penalty – a system rooted in racial terror and lynchings – is maintained. He did this despite incontrovertible evidence that South Carolina’s death penalty system continues to be racist, arbitrary, and error-prone system. We cannot divorce the method of execution from the system itself. It is unconscionable that our Governor and lawmakers are trying to pretend otherwise. The death penalty must be abolished.”

For more information about this legislation and supporting evidence for this statement please see our fact sheet – https://www.aclusc.org/sites/default/files/field_documents/oppose_s.200_-_the_electric_chair_has_no_place_in_21st_century_south_carolina.pdf.

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