COLUMBIA, S.C. - The man set to be executed Friday for a South Carolina murder case with Augusta ties is filing a federal lawsuit over the state’s execution practices.

Stephen Stanko filed the federal civil rights lawsuit on June 6 against the South Carolina Department of Corrections and the agency’s officials.

The lawsuit attacks South Carolina’s execution statute, which has been in place for five executions since September 2024, when the state began resuming executions after an over 10-year gap.

The statute places the electric chair, a method Stanko argues is archaic, as the designated method unless the inmate chooses lethal injection or firing squad.

South Carolina’s most recent execution was done via firing squad. Mikal Mahdi’s legal team filed a complaint after his April death, al

See Full Page