South Carolina to Carry Out Firing Squad Execution, Third This Year
A unanimous decision by the South Carolina Supreme Court has paved the way for Stephen Bryant, 44, to be executed by firing squad on Friday. The condemned killer will be put to death at 6 p.m. ET for killing three people over five days in 2004, leaving taunting messages for police in the blood of one of his victims.
Bryant's lawyers made a last-ditch appeal, arguing that their defense team had not fully explored the effects of fetal alcohol spectrum disorder on his brain, which was allegedly caused by his mother's drinking and drug use while pregnant. However, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review the case in October.
The court rejected Bryant's argument, stating that even if more investigation into his brain damage had been conducted, it would not have changed the outcome of the death sentence. The justices found that Bryant demonstrated a high level of planning and calculation in his crimes.
Bryant will be the third person to be executed by firing squad in South Carolina this year. He is scheduled to die after choosing this method over lethal injection, which was initially paused due to struggles to obtain drugs.
The death penalty has been reinstated in South Carolina since 1985, and Bryant's execution marks the 50th person to be put to death in the state under that system. The method of execution has also been used in other countries, including Nazi Germany and the former Soviet Union, as a tool of terror and repression.
Bryant will be executed with three volunteers from 15 feet away, and his sentence can still be reduced to life in prison by Governor Henry McMaster if he chooses to do so. However, this decision has been met with skepticism, with no South Carolina governor having granted clemency in the modern era of the death penalty.
In a rare move, Bryant chose to die by firing squad, joining an exclusive list of only three other prisoners who have undergone the same method since 1977 - all in Utah.
A unanimous decision by the South Carolina Supreme Court has paved the way for Stephen Bryant, 44, to be executed by firing squad on Friday. The condemned killer will be put to death at 6 p.m. ET for killing three people over five days in 2004, leaving taunting messages for police in the blood of one of his victims.
Bryant's lawyers made a last-ditch appeal, arguing that their defense team had not fully explored the effects of fetal alcohol spectrum disorder on his brain, which was allegedly caused by his mother's drinking and drug use while pregnant. However, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review the case in October.
The court rejected Bryant's argument, stating that even if more investigation into his brain damage had been conducted, it would not have changed the outcome of the death sentence. The justices found that Bryant demonstrated a high level of planning and calculation in his crimes.
Bryant will be the third person to be executed by firing squad in South Carolina this year. He is scheduled to die after choosing this method over lethal injection, which was initially paused due to struggles to obtain drugs.
The death penalty has been reinstated in South Carolina since 1985, and Bryant's execution marks the 50th person to be put to death in the state under that system. The method of execution has also been used in other countries, including Nazi Germany and the former Soviet Union, as a tool of terror and repression.
Bryant will be executed with three volunteers from 15 feet away, and his sentence can still be reduced to life in prison by Governor Henry McMaster if he chooses to do so. However, this decision has been met with skepticism, with no South Carolina governor having granted clemency in the modern era of the death penalty.
In a rare move, Bryant chose to die by firing squad, joining an exclusive list of only three other prisoners who have undergone the same method since 1977 - all in Utah.
I'm literally shaking with rage and sadness about this one... how can we still be having this conversation?! Like, what's next? Are we gonna go back to using waterboarding as a form of interrogation? 
It's already insane that we're debating the morality of executing people by firing squad, like, what even is that supposed to do?! 
Firing squad, because who needs a fancy machine gun when you can just strap some people together and let them shoot each other... I mean, the condemned guy? 
This is South Carolina we're talking about, where the only thing that's getting fired up is the firing squad. 15 feet away, oh boy, I hope they all have great aim 
. And governor McMaster, the ultimate nice guy, still hasn't granted clemency in this modern era... like he's just trolling us all 
. This whole thing just reeks of old-school terror and repression - you'd think we've moved past that by now. Oh wait, I forgot, the US is still experimenting with the death penalty 
.
anyway back to sc - firing squad is just so... outdated 
and 15 feet away from volunteers? no thanks, that's just cruel 
plus governor henry mcmaster's decision to grant clemency after the execution might not be as solid as people think 
it's all so complicated 
It's just not something we should be embracing in modern times.
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firing squad? 
I'm just saying, it feels like they're trying to send a message or something, but honestly, it's just sending a bad vibe. 
, ive seen documentaries about nazis using it as a tool for terror and i just cant get on board with that kinda thing...and another thing how come we still have states executing people in such a brutal way when there are so many other methods available? like what would happen if they did this to someone who was innocent 
how can we justify this kinda punishment when there r more humane ways 2 deal w/ violent offenders? 