Close Menu
    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
    Return to Fordham Law School
    X (Twitter) Facebook LinkedIn Instagram RSS
    Fordham Law News
    • Home
    • Law School News
    • In the News
    • Fordham Lawyer
    • Insider
      • Announcements
      • Class Notes
      • In Memoriam
    • For the Media
      • Media Contacts
    • News by Topic
      • Business and Financial Law
      • Clinics
      • Intellectual Property and Information Law
      • International and Human Rights Law
      • Legal Ethics and Professional Practice
      • National Security
      • Public Interest and Service
    Return to Fordham Law School
    X (Twitter) Facebook LinkedIn Instagram RSS
    Fordham Law News
    You are at:Home»Faculty»The Post and Courier: Prof. Deborah Denno on Whether South Carolina Prisoner’s Execution Would Open the Door to More-frequent Firing Squad Executions in the U.S.

    The Post and Courier: Prof. Deborah Denno on Whether South Carolina Prisoner’s Execution Would Open the Door to More-frequent Firing Squad Executions in the U.S.

    0
    By edegregorio on March 4, 2025 Faculty, In the News

    Fordham Law Professor Deborah Denno, death penalty expert and founding director of Fordham Law’s Neuroscience and Law Center, spoke to The Post and Courier about whether the execution of the first death row inmate to be executed by firing squad in the last 15 years would open the door to more-frequent firing squad executions.

    Of the 144 civilians executed by firing squad in the course of U.S. history (with records dating back to 1608), only two were reported to have been botched, said Deborah Denno, a Fordham University law school professor who has been studying capital punishment for over three decades.

    By contrast, she said, the botch rate for lethal injection — the prevailing modern execution method — is rising. These happen in different ways, including when executioners fail to find a suitable vein in which to administer the drugs, jab an inmate in various parts of their body while seeking an access point, mix up the drugs to be injected or use incorrect doses.

    Denno said more death row inmates are now living through these hourslong ordeals while strapped to a gurney, though the execution process should ideally take minutes.

    She attributed these problems to executioners’ ineptitude in carrying out lethal injections, as well as states’ increasing experimentation with drugs because of the difficulties in sourcing them.

    …

    Firing squad executions have also remained on the fringes, Denno said, because states are resistant to relying on a method that dates back to the colonial era. She said that would be an “embarrassing” admission that governments cannot come up with a more humane execution method in the 21st century.

    “That’s a concession that we really are bad at killing people,” Denno said.

    Both Lain and Denno said it’s hard to predict whether Sigmon’s execution would open the door to more-frequent firing squad executions in the United States.

    Read “Experts say firing squad executions are quick and sure. Why are they rarely used in the US?” in The Post and Courier.

    Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email

    Related Posts

    CNBC: Prof. Zephyr Teachout Says Senator Elizabeth Warren’s Proposed Price Gouging Bill is “Common Sense”

    Ms. magazine: Prof. Julie Suk Discusses Shortcomings of the U.S. Constitution

    Fordham GSS News: Prof. Aniket Kesari on Building AI Equity and Access in the Bronx

    Comments are closed.

    • The Big Idea
    March 31, 2025

    The Big Idea: Local Politics, Reform Prosecutors, and Reshaping Mass Incarceration

    March 3, 2025

    The Big Idea: Forced Labor, Global Supply Chains, and Workers’ Rights

    November 6, 2024

    The Big Idea: Partisanship, Perception, and Prosecutorial Power

    October 3, 2024

    The Big Idea: How a Franchising Model Can Transform Worker Cooperatives

    READ MORE

    About

    Fordham University - The Jesuit University of New York

    Founded in 1841, Fordham is the Jesuit University of New York, offering exceptional education distinguished by the Jesuit tradition to more than 15,100 students in its four undergraduate colleges and its six graduate and professional schools.
    Connect With Fordham
    © 2025 ThemeSphere. Designed by ThemeSphere.

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.