firing squad

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Idaho Poised to Allow Firing-Squad Executions

Bill is headed for governor's desk

(Newser) - Idaho is poised to allow firing squads to execute condemned inmates when the state can't get lethal-injection drugs, under a bill the Legislature passed Monday with a veto-proof majority. Firing squads will be used only if the state cannot obtain the drugs needed for lethal injections—and one death...

Judge Rules Against 2 Execution Methods in SC

Electric chair, firing squad are unconstitutonal, she says

(Newser) - A South Carolina judge ruled this week that the state's newly created execution firing squad, as well as its use of the electric chair, are unconstitutional, siding with four death row inmates in a decision sure to be swiftly appealed as the state struggles to implement its new execution...

SCOTUS Sides With Inmate Who Asked for Firing Squad

Michael Wade Nance says lethal injection would be unusually painful for him

(Newser) - Update: The Supreme Court has narrowly ruled in favor of a condemned Georgia inmate who has requested death by firing squad because he has a medical condition that would make lethal injection a long and extremely painful process. In a 5-4 decision, the court ruled that Michael Nance could proceed...

Electric Chair or Firing Squad? Inmate Says Neither

Richard Moore asks courts to decide whether either is unconstitutional

(Newser) - A South Carolina inmate scheduled to die either by a firing squad or in the electric chair later this month is asking the state Supreme Court to halt his execution until judges can determine if either method is cruel and unusual punishment. Richard Bernard Moore is to die April 29...

South Carolina Judge Won't Block 2 Controversial Executions

They're scheduled for June 18 and June 25

(Newser) - A South Carolina judge on Tuesday refused to block two executions set for later this month as she considers a lawsuit over the state’s new capital punishment law, which effectively forces condemned prisoners to choose to die by either the electric chair or firing squad. State Circuit Judge Jocelyn...

Lawmakers Add Firing Squad to Execution Options

South Carolina has run short of lethal injection drugs

(Newser) - The South Carolina House voted Wednesday to add a firing squad to the state's execution methods during a lack of lethal injection drugs—a measure meant to restart executions in a state that once had one of the busiest death chambers in the nation. The bill, approved by a...

Convicted Killer Wants Firing Squad Considered

Nevada inmate's lawyers say 3-drug combo state wants to use is cruel and unusual

(Newser) - A convicted killer who is fighting a possible June execution date that would make him the first person put to death in Nevada in 15 years is calling for the state to consider the firing squad as an option, a rare method in the United States. Attorneys for Zane Michael...

South Carolina Senators Want to Bring Back Firing Squads

Bill would make electric chair the default method

(Newser) - Firing squads will make a comeback in South Carolina if a bill being considered by the state's Senate becomes law. Under current South Carolina law, condemned inmates have the choice between lethal injection or the electric chair, and the state can't force them to die by electrocution if...

DOJ to Allow for Federal Execution by Firing Squad

Change is one of several to come before Trump's term is up

(Newser) - Death by firing squad could be the fate of federal death row inmates in the US under a new rule from the Justice Department. For decades, federal executions have been carried out by lethal injection. But a new rule to be published Friday in the Federal Register, and take effect...

Man Nearing Execution by Firing Squad Has Died

Ron Lafferty's murder case was featured in Jon Krakauer's 'Under the Banner of Heaven'

(Newser) - A Utah death-row inmate whose double-murder case was featured in the book Under the Banner of Heaven and who was nearing execution by firing squad has died of natural causes, prison officials said Monday. Ron Lafferty, 78, died at the state prison in the Salt Lake City suburb of Draper,...

Under the Banner of Heaven Killer Closer to Firing Squad

Ronald Watson Lafferty lost his latest appeal Monday

(Newser) - A Utah death row inmate featured in the popular book Under the Banner of Heaven after killing his sister-in-law and her child for resisting his polygamist beliefs inched closer to becoming the first American to be executed by firing squad in nearly a decade after losing his latest appeal Monday....

Priest: Firing Squad Victim Didn't Understand Fate

Schizophrenic man heard voices telling him things would be OK

(Newser) - One of the eight inmates killed by firing squad in Indonesia this week was far too mentally ill to understand what was happening to him until the very end, according to a priest who tried to comfort the Brazilian man before his execution. Rodrigo Muxfeldt Gularte suffered from bipolar disorder...

Utah Approves Firing Squads
 Utah Approves 
 Firing Squads 
Mar 23, 2015 7:00 PM CDT

Utah Approves Firing Squads

Gov. Gary Herbert signs law to OK backup to lethal injection

(Newser) - Utah became the only state to allow firing squads for executions today when Gov. Gary Herbert signed a law approving the method's use when no lethal-injection drugs are available. Herbert has said he finds the firing squad "a little bit gruesome," but Utah is a capital punishment...

Utah Lawmakers OK Return of Firing Squads

It's not clear whether governor will sign 'backup method' bill

(Newser) - Under a bill passed by Utah's state Senate yesterday, the state's executioners won't have to worry about a shortage of lethal injection drugs unless there's also a shortage of bullets. The bill, introduced by its Republican sponsor as a "backup," allows the use of...

Utah Aims to Bring Back Firing Squads

State wants backup method in case of drug shortages

(Newser) - Utah—the only state to have executed somebody by firing squad this century—is talking about bringing back the execution method it recently phased out. A bill to use firing squads when drugs for lethal injections can't be obtained sailed through a legislative committee and will be before the...

Okla. Lawmaker: Let's Kill Inmates With Nitrogen

It's painless and cheap, Mike Christian says

(Newser) - A lawmaker in the state that pioneered lethal injections says he has found an "innovative" new way to execute inmates involving nitrogen gas. Oklahoma state Rep. Mike Christian tells Der Spiegel that using nitrogen gas for executions is painless, fast, and "cheaper than the bullets you need for...

Oklahoma Town Insists It Owns 'Old Sparky'

But state won't give back electric chair, in case it needs to use it

(Newser) - It is one of the craziest custody disputes you could imagine. A city in Oklahoma wants the state to give it back "Old Sparky," an electric chair last used about 50 years ago. McAlester officials want to put it on display as a piece of history. But the...

Tennessee Brings Back Electric Chair

As Wyoming debates return to firing squad

(Newser) - Amid shortages of drugs used in lethal injections and controversy over a botched execution in Oklahoma , Tennessee has become the first state to revive an older method of execution. Gov. Bill Haslam yesterday signed a bill allowing the state to use the electric chair if execution drugs are not available,...

Utah Lawmaker Calls for Firing Squad Executions

Rep. Paul Ray: 'It's probably the most humane' method

(Newser) - Rep. Paul Ray isn't the first lawmaker this year to call for a return to execution by firing squad—but he may be the first to get his way, the AP reports. After all, his state of Utah used a firing squad only four years ago. Officials had banned...

1 in 5 Americans: Bring Back the Gas Chamber

NBC News poll finds most back alternative execution methods

(Newser) - If one in five Americans had their way, the US wouldn't need to worry about an execution drug shortage because, well, we'd be gassing convicts. According to an NBC News poll, about two-thirds of 800 respondents said they would support alternative methods of execution: 20% are for gas...

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