SC Supreme Court

South Carolina has given the greenlight to firing-squad executions. The method was codified into state law last year after a decade-long pause in carrying out the death sentence over the state's inability to procure lethal injection drugs. State prison officials said Friday that renovations have been completed on the death chamber in Columbia to allow for a firing squad. Legislation that took effect last May made the electric chair the state's primary means of execution while giving inmates the option of death by firing squad or lethal injection, if those methods are available. South Carolina's last execution took place in 2011.

The Senate is holding confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson. Listen Mon - Wed on all SC Public Radio Stations or watch live, here...

South Carolina Supreme Court justices are questioning whether a prosecutor offered to show photos of five dead children to a jury to unfairly upset them so they would sentence the killer to death. The high court heard 39-year-old Timothy Jones' request to overturn his murder convictions and death sentence on Tuesday. Jones killed his children in their Lexington home in 2014. The photos of the children were taken after their bodies were discovered in trash bags days later. They say prosecutors waited until the last moments of the case to shock jurors. Solicitor Rick Hubbard says he gave jurors a choice to view the photos to not hurt them.

The South Carolina Supreme Court has ruled a state law preventing anyone from moving a Confederate monument or changing the historical name of a street or building without the Legislature's permission is legal. But in the same ruling Wednesday, the justices struck down a requirement that two-thirds of the General Assembly must approve a move or name change. The ruling keeps intact South Carolina's Heritage Act. The 2000 law has prevented colleges and local governments from removing Confederate monuments or the names of segregationists from buildings. Lawmakers have refused to even take up any requests to remove monuments over the past few years even as other Southern cities act.

On this edition of the South Carolina Lede for September 4, 2021, we break down the South Carolina Supreme Court's decision this week that found Columbia's mask mandate for schools to be illegal. Also on this episode: new analysis of CDC data by The New York Times finds that the Palmetto State has the highest per capita COVID-19 case rate in the country; HUD Secretary Marcia Fudge visits the state to promote vaccinations; and much more.

South Carolina's highest court on Thursday tossed out a school mask mandate in Columbia, saying it contradicts a state budget measure aimed at preventing face covering requirements.

South Carolina's highest court is considering two challenges to a state rule limiting the ability of school districts to require masks for students and educators. The state Supreme Court heard arguments Tuesday over the state legislature's June decision to write a state budget item threatening school districts with withholding state money if they required masks. The city of Columbia and Richland 2 School District both oppose the measure. Their lawyers argued that a mask prohibition doesn't belong in the state budget as state law requires legislation to have one clear subject. Attorneys for the state said lawmakers can ban or allow masks because state funds pay for the salaries of teachers enforcing such mandates.

South Carolina's highest court will hear two challenges to the state's refusal to let school districts require masks for students and teachers this week. The state Supreme Court has set aside two hours to hear the cases Tuesday. South Carolina lawmakers passed an item in the state budget in June threatening school districts with losing state money if they required masks. The local governments involved in the cases are Columbia and Richland 2 schools. They will likely argue that requiring or banning masks has no place in the state budget, a bill whose purpose is to raise and spend money. South Carolina law requires legislation to have one clear subject.

Some school districts and counties, and the City of Columbia have defied the state prohibition and ordered mask mandates in schools sparking growing pressure on the General Assembly to meet to repeal the prohibition.

More public colleges and universities in South Carolina are requiring people wear masks on campus to prevent the spread of COVID-19 after the state's Supreme Court ruled the schools can legally do so.