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A4 U.S. NEWS
Saturday 6 auguSt 2022
Judge to decide if firing squad or electric chair is cruel

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — testified, according to me-
Whether South Carolina dia reports.
can start executing prison- Lawyers for the inmates
ers again either with a firing also submitted autopsy
squad or electric chair is photos and reports from
now in the hands of a judge inmates who died in the
after a trial over whether electric chair, saying they
shooting or electrocuting demonstrate the pain suf-
inmates is cruel and unusu- fered. Those documents
al punishment banned by will be reviewed by the
the U.S. Constitution. judge and not made pub-
Lawyers for four death row lic. Just three prisoners in
inmates argued this week South Carolina have cho-
the prisoners would feel sen the electric chair since
terrible pain whether their lethal injection was made
bodies were "cooking" by available in 1995.
electricity or heart stopped In closing arguments, law-
by marksman's bullet — as- yers for the state said the
suming they are on target. other side did not prove
Attorneys for the state that electrocution or a fir-
countered with their own This photo provided by the South Carolina Dept. of Corrections shows the state's death chamber ing squad is more pain-
experts who said death by in Columbia, S.C., including the electric chair, right, and a firing squad chair, left. ful than lethal injection, a
the yet-to-be-used firing Associated Press method that has long been
squad or the rarely-used- allowed across the country.
this-century electric chair Prison officials asked law- death happen as fast as "Forgive me for saying it "We are in a court of law.
would be instantaneous makers for help and in possible, according to me- so plain," Arden testified This court's job is to decide
and the condemned 2021 they made the state's dia reports from the trial. about the electric chair, questions of law based on
would not feeling any pain. electric chair, built in 1912, Much of the rest of the "but you get the effects on the law and based on the
The state Supreme Court the default method for ex- trial was each side calling parts on the body, includ- facts that it's heard," said
ordered Judge Jocelyn ecutions and let prisoners its own experts to detail ing internal organs, that is attorney William Grayson
Newman to rule within 30 choose a new firing squad whether inmates feel any the equivalent of cooking." Lambert who is represent-
days, but it almost certain- if they wish. pain before they die. Experts for the state testi- ing the state.
ly won't be the end of the During this week's trial, a The human brain remains fied the shock delivered by Lawyers for Justice 360, a
case. Whichever side loses Corrections Department conscious at least 15 sec- the electric chair is so great group that fights for fairness
is expected to appeal. official said he devised the onds after a person's heart and the use of ammunition and transparency in death
From 1995 to 2011 - when firing squad protocols after stops beating, said Dr. Jon- that shatters when it hits penalty and other major
the state's last execution consulting a prison official athan Arden, who formerly bone creating a number criminal cases and is rep-
was performed - South in Utah, location of the only led the Washington D.C. of fragments to destroy the resenting the inmates, said
Carolina carried out the three inmates to die by fir- Medical Examiner's office. heart means almost im- this case wasn't just about
death penalty on 36 prison- ing squad since 1977. Colie Arden, testifying on behalf mediate loss of conscious- cold facts.
ers with lethal injections. But Rushton, the department's of the inmates said it ap- ness and no pain, retired "This case isn't all about
the state's supply of lethal security director, testified peared at least 10% of pris- forensic pathologist Dr. science," attorney Joshua
injection drugs expired in the .308 Winchester am- oners in cases he reviewed D'Michelle DuPre said. Kendrick said according to
2013, and pharmaceutical munition to be used is de- remained conscious after "I believe it would be so media reports. "Our deci-
companies have refused to signed to fragment and the first shock of an electro- quick they would not ex- sions today are guided by
sell more for executions. split up in the heart to make cution. perience pain at all," DuPre mercy."q
Storms ground U.S. air travelers as airlines cancel flights

day because of thun- delayed by midafternoon. than expected — to about
derstorms hitting the East Thunderstorms were caus- 88% of pre-pandemic lev-
Coast. ing delays averaging more els in July — and airlines
The New York City area's than 90 minutes at LaGuar- weren't able to increase
three major airports and dia Airport in New York and staffing fast enough. They
Reagan National Airport Newark Liberty Internation- have been cutting back
outside Washington, D.C., al in New Jersey, according on schedules in an attempt
recorded the most cancel- to the Federal Aviation Ad- to make remaining flights
lations by Friday afternoon, ministration. The FAA said more reliable.
according to tracking ser- storms also could cause Airlines flying in the U.S.
vice FlightAware. delays at major airports had a bad June, cancel-
American Airlines scrubbed from Florida to Boston. ing more than 21,000 flights
more than 200 flights, or 6% About 1,200 U.S. flights were or 2.7%, up from 1.8% in
of its schedule. Republic canceled Thursday – 4.6% June 2019, before airlines
Airways, which operates of all scheduled flights, and pushed workers to quit
People wait in a TSA line at the John F. Kennedy International smaller planes for Ameri- the highest number since during the pandemic. The
Airport on June 28, 2022, in New York. can Eagle, Delta Connec- July 25, according to Flight- airlines did better in July,
Associated Press tion and United Express, Aware. however, canceling about
also canceled more than Travelers have been hit with 14,000 flights, or 1.8%.
By The Associated Press ended Friday after airlines 200 flights, about 20% of its widespread cancellations Delays have been more
Tens of thousands of flyers canceled more than 1,100 schedule. and delays this summer. persistent — above 23% in
had their travel plans up- flights for a second straight Another 3,700 flights were Travel bounced back faster both June and July.q