South Carolina: new law makes inmates choose firing squad or electric chair

Governor Henry McMaster signed law on Friday amid a shortage of lethal injection drugs for death row prisoners

The governor of South Carolina, Henry McMaster, has quietly signed into law a bill that requires inmates on death row to choose between a firing squad or the electric chair if lethal injection is not available.

The law, signed without ceremony on Friday, comes amid a shortage of lethal injection drugs that has affected the state's ability to implement capital punishment. South Carolina has not executed any prisoners since 2011.