Many states have had difficulty procuring the drugs used for lethal injection, partly due to growing anti-death penalty sentiments among pharmaceutical companies.

That led South Carolina lawmakers to institute electrocution and firing squads as alternative execution methods in 2021, a move which the state's Supreme Court recently approved. 

Law is a "sincere effort to make the death penalty less inhumane"

According to the Daily Caller, that decision came following a lawsuit that argued the 2021 law was a violation of the Constitution's ban on cruel and unusual punishment.

Red State Supreme Court Approves Firing Squad, Other Execution Methods For Death Penalty https://t.co/IQgR3eBQb1

— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) August 1, 2024

"[The 2021 law was a] sincere effort to make the death penalty less inhumane while enabling the state to carry out its laws," Justice John Few wrote within the decision.

"The inescapable reality that an execution by any method may not go as planned — that it will be 'botched' — does not render the method 'cruel' under the constitution," he stressed.

Five states now allow execution by firing squad

The Hill noted that South Republican Gov. Henry McMaster praised his state's highest judicial body for having "rightfully upheld the rule of law."

"This decision is another step in ensuring that lawful sentences can be duly enforced and the families and loved ones of the victims receive the closure and justice they have long awaited," he added.

Since 2011 the state has not conducted an execution, however, there are currently 32 death row inmates in South Carolina, The Hill reported.

Information provided by The Death Penalty Information Center shows that South Carolina is now one of five states where convicts can be put to death with a firing squad.

Last firing squad execution took place in 2010

However, the Associated Press observed last year that Utah is the only state to have actually used the method over the past 50 years, the last time being in 2010.

Meanwhile, PBS reported two years ago that Richard Bernard Moore requested to be put to death by firing squad under the new law rather than by electrocution.

Moore has been on South Carolina's death row for over 20 years, having been convicted of murdering convenience store clerk James Mahoney during a 1999 robbery.

However, more made clear that his decision was not an endorsement of his sentence, stating, "I believe this election is forcing me to choose between two unconstitutional methods of execution, and I do not intend to waive any challenges to electrocution or firing squad by making an election."