2 SC death row inmates ask court not to schedule executions

By MICHELLE LIU
Associated Press/Report for America

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Lawyers for two men on South Carolina’s death row have asked the state’s Supreme Court to hold off on setting execution dates while they challenge a new law allowing executions by firing squad. The Monday request by attorneys for Brad Keith Sigmon and Freddie Eugene Owens comes after the state Corrections Department said last week that the agency is now prepared to carry out firing-squad executions. Lawmakers added the firing squad as an option last year in an effort to get around a decade-long pause in executions. The high court set execution dates for both inmates last year but delayed their deaths to give the corrections department time to set up the firing squad.