The firing squad, a method of execution with a long and complex history in the United States, is ready to use for the first time in 15 years in South Carolina. On Friday, Brad Sigmon will face a firing squad in 2001, convicted of killing their ex-girlfriend’s parents, a method he chose on electric chair and deadly injection.
The history of firing squads in the US is of colonial period when it was used as a punishment for rebellion. In 1608, Captain George Kendal was killed by a firing squad by squad in Jamestown, Virginia, for suspected rebellion and conspiracy with Spain. It marked the previously recorded execution by shooting in the US.
During the Civil War, firing squads were used by both sides to make “public spectacles” to execute disserters and maintain discipline. According to The Associated Press, a history professor at the University of South Carolina, Mark Smith, was designed to shock and intimidate firing squads, with additional element of uncertainty, because one of the executioners was often given an empty cartridge.
In the early 19th and 20th centuries, Utah became a primary state to use firing squads, with this method at least 40 execution. A notable case was the execution of the labor worker and lyricist Joe Hill in 1915. Hill, who had maintained his innocence till the end, was shot by a firing squad in the Utah State Jail.
However, the use of firing squads declined as a deadly injection, becoming the preferred method of execution in the 1980s. Malignant injections were initially seen as a more human option, but since then it has suffered from bottled execution and difficulties in obtaining necessary drugs.
In recent years, however, some states have reconsidered firing squads as an alternative to fatal injections. According to Debora Dano, a criminalist Debora at Fordham School of Law, firing squads have been relatively reliable, with only two reported cases of bottled execution. Dano has argued that firing squads can be a more human option for fatal injections, as they are usually sharp and less prone to error.
In South Carolina, Sigmon’s decision to choose the firing squad on other methods has led to a debate. His lawyer, Garald “Bo” Raja said that Syaman chose the firing squad as the options seemed worse. The execution will be performed by volunteer officers, in which the sigmon is tied to a chair and a target will be set on its heart.
As the US has continued to struggle with the morality and practicalities of capital punishment, the use of firing squads raises complex questions about the nature of justice and the value of human life.
