US Supreme Court Declines to Halt SC Inmate's Upcoming Execution

Court Rejects Last-Minute Appeal From Attorneys

The US Supreme Court has denied a last-minute appeal from attorneys for a South Carolina inmate scheduled to be executed on Wednesday.

Richard Bernard Moore is set to be executed by lethal injection at 6 p.m. for the 1999 murder of James Mahoney.

Moore's attorneys had argued that he should not be executed because he is mentally ill and has an IQ of 70.

They also argued that the state's lethal injection protocol is cruel and unusual punishment.

The South Carolina Attorney General's Office has maintained that Moore is competent to be executed.

Solicitor Scarlett Wilson said in a statement that Moore “has received due process and the full protection of the law.”

Moore's execution is scheduled to take place at the Lieber Correctional Institution in Ridgeville, South Carolina.

It would be the first execution in South Carolina since 2011.

Moore's execution would be the fourth in the United States this year.

There were 11 executions in the US in 2022.