The return of the firing squad is a defeat for death penalty supporters | Austin Sarat

The method is a vivid reminder of the brutality of state killing. That undermines the pro-capital-punishment narrative

South Carolina executed Mikal Mahdi by firing squad on 11 April. Mahdi had been convicted and sentenced for the 2004 killing of an off-duty law enforcement officer.

One month before his execution, South Carolina put Brad Sigmon to death using the same method. He was the first person since 2010 to be killed by the firing squad. Both Mahdi and Sigmon chose the firing squad from a menu of three ways to die, the others being lethal injection and the electric chair.