Amherst professor Austin Sarat discusses the recent execution of Marion Bowman in South Carolina, focusing on his case and the broader cruelties inherent in the American capital punishment system. Professor Sarat argues that Bowman’s case exemplifies multiple systemic issues in death penalty cases, including the treatment of those claiming innocence, the coercive nature of plea deals, inadequate legal defense, and the psychological torture of death row conditions, particularly during the final months before execution.

UNLV Boyd School of Law professor Leslie C. Griffin discusses recent court decisions in South Carolina and Massachusetts regarding whether churches can claim charitable immunity to avoid liability in sexual abuse cases. Professor Griffin argues that charitable immunity should never protect churches from sexual abuse liability—whether for intentional torts or negligence—because sexual abuse is inherently not charitable, and allowing such immunity unjustly harms abuse survivors.

Amherst professor Austin Sarat discusses the South Carolina Supreme Court’s recent decision allowing the state to carry out executions using the electric chair, firing squad, or lethal injection. Professor Sarat criticizes the ruling, arguing that it effectively nullifies constitutional protections against cruel punishment by permitting inhumane methods of execution under the guise of providing inmates with a choice, thus failing the citizens of South Carolina.

Amherst professor Austin Sarat observes that the push for death penalty abolition in the United States faced a year of mixed outcomes in 2023, marked by a rise in executions but also legislative progress in some states like Washington. Professor Sarat observes that states like Alabama and South Carolina are making efforts to proceed with executions using new methods or secured drug supplies, Ohio and Tennessee have shown more cautious or progressive stances, signaling an incremental and complex journey toward abolition.

Amherst professor Austin Sarat comments on the many attempts by South Carolina to resume executions in that state. Professor Sarat describes the recent history of capital punishment in that state and notes that a recent decision by the South Carolina supreme court put on hold a case involving death row inmates’ challenge to the state’s attempt to use the electric chair and the firing squad.

Amherst professor Austin Sarat comments on a challenge to South Carolina’s plan to use the electric chair or the firing squad to carry out executions. Professor Sarat describes the conflicting expert testimony regarding the suffering involved in each method of execution and argues that instead of debating about the pain of the condemned, we should reject the premise that death is a punishment the government should even be using.