South Carolina to Execute Inmate After 13-Year Hiatus

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina has scheduled the execution of inmate Freddie Eugene Owens for September 20, marking the state’s first execution in over 13 years. Once a leading state in executions, South Carolina faced challenges in obtaining lethal injection drugs due to pharmaceutical companies' reluctance to sell them if the transactions were made public. Owens, convicted of murdering a store clerk in 1997, will have the option to choose between lethal injection, electrocution, or a newly introduced firing squad. The state's prisons director has five days to confirm the availability of all three execution methods. Additionally, Owens' legal team is awaiting a sworn statement from prison officials regarding the stability and proper mixing of the lethal injection drug, as mandated by a recent state Supreme Court ruling. This ruling clarified the state’s secrecy law on executions, which has facilitated the resumption of capital punishment in South Carolina. Owens has been sentenced to death three times during his appeals process. His defense is currently assessing whether the forthcoming information about the lethal injection drug meets the standards set by both state and federal courts. The state’s decision to pause executions was not intentional; it stemmed from the expiration of its lethal injection drug supply and the refusal of companies to sell more under public scrutiny. Since the death penalty was reinstated in the U.S. in 1976, South Carolina has executed 43 inmates, averaging three executions annually in the early 2000s. The state legislature authorized the use of a firing squad in 2021, providing inmates with additional options for execution.