South Carolina

         

Year of Reenactment
(since 1972 suspension)
  1974
Year of First Execution
(since reenactment)
1985
History

1841-1911: hanging

1912-1994: electrocution

1995-present: lethal injection or electrocution

Current Method
Inmate choice of lethal injection or electrocution.
   

         

South Carolina has life without parole.  A jury decides the sentence.  The Governor has the exclusive authority to grant reprieves and to commute death sentences to life imprisonment.


Warren Manning was freed after 10 years on death row following his acquittal on all charges in 1999.  The jury deliberated only 3 hours in freeing Manning, who was represented at this trial by one of the country's leading death penalty lawyers.  Manning was the 83rd such person freed in the country since 1973.

previous | next
home