A 61-year-old death row inmate in Georgia has been allowed to request death by firing squad over the “painful” lethal injection. Michael Nance won the right to request the firing squad despite it not being an approved method of execution in the state, Sky News reports.
- The Supreme Court ruled in Nance’s favor. They allowed him to challenge Georgia’s execution protocol, saying the right to do so is covered under federal civil rights.
- Nance was put on death row in 2002. He was convicted that year of the murder of 43-year-old Gabor Balogh in an attempted 1993 carjacking and immediately sentenced to death. However, no date has been set for Nance’s execution.
- Nance claims that a lethal injection would cause him undue pain and suffering. Court documents state that this is because his veins are “severely compromised and unsuitable for sustained intravenous access.” He also claimed that the sedative in lethal injections might not work on him due to his long-term use of prescription pain medication.
- Firing squads are currently in use for executions in four states. Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Utah currently allow death row inmates to end their lives via this method, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. Electrocution, hanging, and lethal gas are other possible methods, though not all of them are available in every state. A whopping 31 states favor the injection.
