South Carolina went 10 years without an execution. There's no good reason for firing squads now

Mia Brett explains the legal history behind its decision.

In 1976, the Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty after a four year moratorium in Gregg v. Georgia. Rather than taking the opportunity to rule once and for all that capital punishment constitutes “cruel and unusual punishment” violating the Eighth Amendment, the Court instead ruled the death penalty serves two social purposes, deterrence and retri…