South Carolina Supreme Court suspends execution orders for death row inmates

COLUMBIA, SC (WCSC) – South Carolina is set to carry out its first execution in over a decade next month, but it is unclear when more executions will take place.

There are currently more than 30 inmates on death row, but years of legal battles over the death penalty and the state’s difficulty in obtaining the drugs needed for lethal injection have put their executions on hold.

Five of these men have expired appeals, and one of them, Freddie Eugene Owens, is scheduled to be executed on September 20.

However, the state Supreme Court has suspended the issuing of further death sentences for the time being to decide whether and how long there should be a minimum period between executions.

Those sentenced to death are demanding that the court allow the intervals between executions to be at least three months.

The state explains that if a minimum duration is prescribed, it should not be longer than about one month.

State law does not prescribe a specific time period between executions; it simply states that an execution must be carried out four Fridays after the state Supreme Court issues a death sentence against an inmate.

“I think the current law is a good law,” Gov. Henry McMaster told reporters Tuesday. “I mean, it was carefully crafted. There’s years of experience across the country with this kind of thing, and our legislature made that decision. I think that’s a good decision.”

McMaster said that in his opinion the General Assembly would ultimately have to resolve this issue – if it so wished.

“And if that has to be part of the law, then it should be included in these statutes. That’s an important question,” he said.

This issue will have no bearing on Owens’ execution. The man was scheduled to be executed on September 20 after the Supreme Court issued its execution order last Friday.

Owens was found guilty of killing a store clerk during a robbery in Greenville County in 1997.

Shortly before the scheduled execution date, the governor must announce whether he will grant clemency and commute Owens’ death sentence to life imprisonment without parole.

No governor of South Carolina has accomplished this in the last five decades of modern history.

“My position on the need to bring this process to a close for the victims, the relatives, the families of all those involved, and society as a whole, is well known,” McMaster said. “… I think if the rule of law has been followed, there is really only one answer. But you make that statement at the time the law requires you to.”

Owens must decide whether he should be executed by lethal injection, firing squad or the electric chair, the latter currently the state’s default method when an inmate cannot decide.

This will be the first execution to use a firing squad since lawmakers added it as a method of execution in 2021. It may also be the first time South Carolina has used a lethal injection using a new drug already in use in other states: pentobarbital.

When asked whether he had any concerns about the effectiveness of these methods in light of these circumstances, McMaster replied succinctly on Tuesday: “None.”

There is currently no deadline for the state Supreme Court to make a decision on the timing of executions or when it will resume imposing death sentences.

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