South Carolina could execute one death row inmate every 35 days as the death penalty is reinstated

Washington, DC Newsroom, September 11, 2024 / 09:20 a.m.

The South Carolina Department of Corrections could potentially execute one death row inmate every 35 days – or every five weeks – as the state resumes executions on Sept. 20 after a 13-year hiatus in capital punishment.

In a recent ruling, the South Carolina Supreme Court ruled that a five-week interval between executions was “reasonable” and “justified,” but left open the possibility of carrying out the death penalty more frequently if circumstances warrant.

The ruling came after death row inmates called for a 13-week gap between executions and the state's Attorney General, Alan Wilson, asked the court to allow at least one execution per month. The court's decision would allow the state to potentially execute 10 or 11 people in a calendar year.

So far, no U.S. state has carried out more than four executions in 2024. In recent decades, the frequency of executions has declined across the country, and some states have abolished the death penalty altogether.

More than 30 people are on death row in South Carolina. Freddie Owens, convicted of murder, is scheduled to be executed on September 20. The state Supreme Court announced that it will schedule the execution of at least five other death row inmates after Owens' execution.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church, reflecting an update promulgated by Pope Francis in 2018, calls the death penalty “inadmissible” and an “attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person” (No. 2267). The change reflects an evolution in Catholic teaching in recent years. Saint John Paul II called the death penalty “cruel and unnecessary,” encouraged Christians to be “unconditionally pro-life” and said that “the dignity of human life must never be taken away, even in the case of someone who has done great evil.”

Krisanne Vaillancourt Murphy, executive director of the anti-death penalty group Catholic Mobilizing Network (CMN), told CNA that the rate of executions proposed by the attorney general was “reckless” and “would represent a significant step backwards.”

CMN works closely with the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) to oppose the death penalty and protect the human dignity of incarcerated persons.

Murphy urged South Carolina officials to consider changes made in other states. For example, Oklahoma reduced the frequency of executions after Attorney General Gentner Drummond wrote a letter to the state Department of Corrections saying employees had “reported the strain they feel due to the continuous executions.”

Murphy said, “Even the correctional officers know this is wrong.”

“Our prayers remain with Freddie [Owens]who are awaiting this imminent execution, for the families of the victims, and for those affected by the violence,” Murphy added. “We also pray for each and every person currently on South Carolina's death row whose life is in danger.”

“All executions violate the sanctity of life, regardless of the pace or manner in which they are carried out,” she said.

“We have ways to ensure the safety of society and to provide justice for the families of the victims without violating the God-given dignity of man. And therefore there is no humane way for the state to take a life.”

The last time a death row inmate was executed in South Carolina was in 2011. After that, executions were suspended because the state's corrections department could not find a pharmaceutical company to purchase the drugs needed for the lethal injection.

South Carolina has since acquired the drugs needed to administer lethal injections and legalized executions by electric chair and firing squad in 2021. In July of this year, the state Supreme Court ruled that the death penalty – including executions by all of those methods – was legal, after which the Department of Corrections announced its intention to resume executions.