Editing Old Sparky (section)

==South Carolina==
The state installed the "Old Sparky" in 1912 at the [[Central Correctional Institution]] (CCI) in [[Columbia, South Carolina|Columbia]].<ref>[http://www.state.sc.us/scdah/exhibits/ccitimeline.htm State of South Carolina: Central Correctional Institution Timeline]</ref> In 1944 it was used to execute 14-year-old [[George Stinney]], the youngest person to be sentenced to death in the United States for more than a century.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-25831553|title=US judge hears appeal on teen executed in 1940s|publisher=[[BBC News]]|date=January 21, 2014}}</ref>In 1990, the chair was relocated to the newly built Broad River Correctional Institution and was used to execute [[Donald Henry Gaskins]], the [[List of white defendants executed for killing a black victim|first white defendant to be executed for the murder of a black person]] in South Carolina history.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/02/22/us/columbia-journal-prison-lures-them-in-as-tourists.html|title=Columbia Journal; Prison Lures Them In (as Tourists)|newspaper=The New York Times|date=Feb 22, 1994|access-date=Dec 15, 2019|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331|archive-url=https://archive.today/20220305165701/https://www.nytimes.com/1994/02/22/us/columbia-journal-prison-lures-them-in-as-tourists.html|archive-date=March 5, 2022|url-status=live}}</ref> Today, It is still managed by the [[South Carolina Department of Corrections]], and is the oldest electric chair still online in the world.  

In 1997, all death row inmates were relocated from Broad River to the Lieber Correctional Institution. The move provided better management controls and ensured correctional staff who dealt with condemned prisoners on a daily basis were not the same officers given the responsibility of carrying out [[capital punishment]].<ref name="Deathrow">"[http://www.doc.sc.gov/news/deathrow.jsp Death Row/Capital Punishment]." [[South Carolina Department of Corrections]]. Retrieved on 17 August 2010.</ref>

The most recent use of "Old Sparky" was on June 21, 2008 when convicted murderer [[James Earl Reed]] opted for this method of execution.

Under Act 43 of 2021, the electric chair is now the primary method of execution, although a [[firing squad]] is optional.<ref name="Act_43">{{cite web |url=https://www.scstatehouse.gov/billsearch.php?billnumbers=200&session=124&summary=B |title=South Carolina Legislature Online - Bill Search by Bill Number |website=www.scstatehouse.gov |access-date=11 June 2021}}</ref>