‘Modern-day barbarism’: SC Catholic Diocese of Charleston reacts to Richard Moore execution
The scheduled April 29 execution of South Carolina death row inmate Richard Moore is simply “modern-day barbarism,” the Roman Catholic Diocese of Charleston said Friday
“Respect for life is, and must remain, unconditional. This principle applies to all, even the perpetrators of terrible acts,” the diocese, which covers the entire state, said in a statement.
Moore is scheduled to be executed April 29. Fourteen days before, he must choose his method of execution: the electric chair or the state’s new option, the firing squad. Moore’s lawyers have appealed his execution date, asking for a stay.
Now that the state Department of Corrections has finalized its firing squad procedures, executions can now take place in South Carolina.
Moore, now 57, was sentenced to death for the 1999 murder of James Mahoney who died in a botched Spartanburg County convenience store robbery.
“The tragedy caused by Mr. Moore’s actions is not justified by killing another human being,” the diocese said. “Justice is not restored when another person is killed.”
The Catholic Church is against abortion rights and capital punishment, calling them an attack on the dignity of human life. The church called for the state to commute Moore’s death sentence.
South Carolina recently made the electric chair its default way to execute death row inmates, and gave the choice of a firing squad because the corrections department is unable to get the lethal injection drugs needed to execute those on the state’s death row.
This story was originally published April 8, 2022 at 4:21 PM.
