South-Carolina
Richard Moore’s final words before South Carolina execution
South Carolina inmate Richard Moore was executed by lethal injection on Friday for the 1999 murder of a convenience store clerk, despite widespread appeals for clemency.
Moore was the second person to be executed in the state in just over a month after a 13-year pause, prompted by difficulty obtaining drugs for its lethal injection protocol. The 59-year-old was pronounced dead at 6:24 p.m. after Governor Henry McMaster and the Supreme Court denied his request to halt the execution. Two years ago, in discussing Moore’s case, Republican McMaster said he wouldn’t issue a commutation.
As the execution began, Moore was strapped to a gurney, with a blanket covering most of his body. Witnesses said he faced the ceiling with his eyes closed as the lethal drug entered his body, before taking between four and six deep gasping breaths, The State reported.
Witnesses included two family members of James Mahoney, Moore’s lawyer, Lindsey Vann, his spiritual adviser, three journalists, an official from the South Carolina Department of Corrections, a South Carolina Law Enforcement Division agent and Spartanburg Solicitor Barry Barnette, who played a role in prosecuting Moore in 2001. Barnette and members of Mahoney’s family stared stoically ahead as Moore took his last breaths, according to The State. Outside, roughly 40 people, including an attorney who represented Moore, opponents of the death penalty and members of the clergy held a prayer vigil.
Matt Kelley/AP
In a final statement, which was read at a news conference, Moore said: “To the family of Mr. James Mahoney, I am deeply sorry for the pain and sorrow I cause you all. To my children and granddaughters, I love you and am so proud of you. Thank you for the joy you have brought to my life.
“To all of my family and friends — new and old — thank you for you love and support.”
His final meal was steak cooked medium, fried catfish and shrimp, scalloped potatoes, green peas, broccoli with cheese, sweet potato pie, German chocolate cake and grape juice.
Moore was the last person remaining on South Carolina’s death row to be convicted by a jury with no Black members, his defense attorneys say. He is also believed to be the only person in the history of South Carolina’s death penalty executed for an armed robbery who did not bring the fatal weapon to the scene.
Moore was found guilty of killing convenience store clerk Mahoney during a 1999 robbery in Spartanburg County. According to prosecutors, Moore entered the store without a weapon and managed to wrestle away Mahoney’s handgun, which he drew after getting into an altercation with Moore because he was 12 cents short. Mahoney then reached for a second firearm, shooting Moore in the arm, but Moore responded by fatally shooting Mahoney in the head. Prosecutors said Moore then fled the scene with a bag containing over $1,400 in cash.
Prosecutors accused Moore of robbing the store to fund his crack addiction. However, over the years, Moore maintained that he was there to buy beer and cigarettes. In 2001, he was sentenced to death.
Unsuccessful Appeals
Moore appealed his sentence several times, most recently on the basis that prosecutors impermissibly struck two Black jurors because of their race in his 2001 murder case, which the state denied. In 1986, the Supreme Court ruled that prosecutors cannot strike a potential juror based solely on race. If challenged, the state must state a “race-neutral” reason for excluding the candidate.
Trey Gowdy – a prosecutor in Moore’s case who later served four terms as a Republican congressman – told the judge one Black jury candidate was struck primarily for allegedly hiding her criminal record during questioning, while another was excluded because their son had been convicted of murder. Gowdy noted that a white juror with a similar family situation had also been removed. Additionally, he pointed out that the final jury included a Hispanic member.
But in a brief filed Tuesday with the Supreme Court, the South Carolina attorney general argued it was too late for Moore to raise the issue of jurors’ race because it had not been mentioned in earlier appeals. They argued Moore killed Mahoney in self-defense.
His appeals gained national attention, with more than 20 people – including two jurors, the judge from Moore’s original trial and a former director of the state prison system – asking McMaster to spare Moore’s life by granting him clemency, The Associated Press reported.
Moore’s son, Lyndall, who was four when his father was charged, also argued that his father deserved mercy.
“He’s not some sort of monster,” Lyndall told The State. “He’s just a guy who struggled, but always a guy with a good heart, you know, a normal guy trying to be a good father.”
In prison, Moore reportedly became a devout Christian, dedicated himself to mentoring other inmates and took up painting. He also encouraged his children to avoid his own missteps.
Former Department of Corrections Director Jon Ozmint described Moore as a “reliable, consistent force for good on death row,” according to The State, and argued that commuting Moore’s sentence could serve as a powerful example of redemption. Ozmint added: “Perhaps the most compelling reason to commute Richard’s sentence is precisely because he is at peace with whatever decision you reach.”
On July 1, three days before fireworks erupted across the United States, South Carolina football launched some of their own across the college football world after landing five-star cornerback Joshua Dobson.
Dobson’s commitment to the Gamecocks marked the highest-rated defensive back commit in program history. Additionally, the No. 12 prospect in the nation is the third-highest-ranked Gamecock commit ever, according to the Rivals Industry Ranking.
On July 3, ESPN’s Craig Haubert, Eli Lederman and Tom Luginbill predicted the fit of all current five-star prospects with their future schools. That list included Dobson’s fit with South Carolina.
What does this mean for the Gamecocks? Mingo Martin and fellow subscribers are discussing it now on The Insiders Forum.
“ESPN’s No. 2 cornerback was a priority local target for South Carolina coach Shane Beamer in the 2027 cycle,” Lederman wrote. ” … If he signs later this year, Dobson will represent the program’s highest-ranked signee since defensive end Jordan Burch arrived at South Carolina as the No. 4 overall recruit in the 2020 class.”
Dobson, originally of Fort Mill, S.C., transferred to Hough High School in Cornelius, N.C., after his junior season. In the days following his commitment, his Hough teammate, Davion Jones, joined him in South Carolina’s recruiting class.
“A long, gifted corner with elite level speed, he posted a 4.39 40 this spring. Dobson is smooth and transitions extremely quickly in and out when turning and running or closing on the ball,” Luginbill wrote. “He can mirror without allowing separation in man-to-man, shadowing receivers out of their breaks. He tracks the deep throw well, showing a second gear to break under the ball and has outstanding hands and ball skills.”
The former quarterback and ESPN national recruiting director also predicted that Dobson can be an early starter at South Carolina.
There is precedent in ensuring young defensive backs see the field as freshmen under Beamer. During the 2025 season, true freshmen Kendall Daniels Jr. and Damarcus Leach saw limited action.
Daniels featured in nine games primarily on special teams while Leach saw limited time across seven matchups. Both players returned to the Gamecocks for a sophomore season in 2026.
Earlier during the Beamer era, Nick Emmanwori, DQ Smith, and Jalon Kilgore all earned Freshman All-American honors with the Gamecocks.
“He also shows good closing speed and aggressiveness in run support, and isn’t just a finesse cover corner,” Luginbill wrote about the Gamecocks’ 2027 Freshman All-American hopeful. “Dobson has awareness and instincts for the position that are coveted, and his speed sets him apart.”
Dobson’s speed features 100-meter track times in the 10.4-second range alongside his 6-foot 5-inch wingspan.
However, the crown jewel of South Carolina’s 2027 recruiting class still has a senior year to play. In an age of NIL and constant player movement, Dobson’s recruitment remains far from over. Should the Gamecocks retain their potential star through signing day, the sky is the limit for him and Clayton White’s secondary.
South-Carolina
Federal court revives NAACP lawsuit challenging SC education law limiting how schools can teach race
A legislative effort to put a similar ban in regular state law — minus the “discomfort” item — failed in 2024 after the House and Senate couldn’t agree on how it would be enforced.
A second part of the lawsuit and appeal concerned the Lexington Three school district’s decision to remove the book “Stamped,” by noted anti-racist author Ibram X. Kendi from its libraries.
Kendi alleges in the lawsuit that the removal of his book constitutes unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination, linked to the budget provision because at least one member of the district review committee pointed to the law as a reason for the removal.
Lydon had also tossed that claim on standing grounds, which the appeals court similarly reversed, finding that the lawsuit “plausibly alleges” that Kendi’s book was pulled from shelves because of the budget provision.
As with the AP course part of the lawsuit, Agee’s opinion doesn’t rule on the larger legal question of whether an author has a First Amendment right to keep their book in a school library, just that it’s not reason to deny the author standing.
The Budget Provision
The Budget Provision
The following proviso has been included in South Carolina’s annual budgets since 2021.
For the current fiscal year, of the funds allocated by the Department of Education to school districts, no monies shall be used by any school district or school to provide instruction in, to teach, instruct, or train any administrator, teacher, staff member, or employee to adopt or believe, or to approve for use, make use of, or carry out standards, curricula, lesson plans, textbooks, instructional materials, or instructional practices that serve to inculcate any of the following concepts:
(1) one race or sex is inherently superior to another race or sex;
(2) an individual, by virtue of his race or sex, is inherently racist, sexist, or oppressive, whether consciously or unconsciously;
(3) an individual should be discriminated against or receive adverse treatment solely or partly because of his race or sex;
(4) an individual’s moral standing or worth is necessarily determined by his race or sex;
(5) an individual, by virtue of his race or sex, bears responsibility for actions committed in the past by other members of the same race or sex;
(6) an individual should feel discomfort, guilt, anguish, or any other form of psychological distress on account of his race or sex;
(7) meritocracy or traits such as a hard work ethic are racist or sexist, or were created by members of a particular race to oppress members of another race; and
(8) fault, blame, or bias should be assigned to a race or sex, or to members of a race or sex because of their race or sex.
Nothing contained herein shall be construed as prohibiting any professional development training for teachers related to issues of addressing unconscious bias within the context of teaching certain literary or historical concepts or issues related to the impacts of historical or past discriminatory policies.
Just a day after four-star PA wide receiver Khalil Taylor spurned Penn State for Nebraska, the Nittany Lions got more fantastic news as four-star South Carolina running back Aiden Gibson announced his decommitment from Penn State and flipped to Rutgers with the intention to enroll for the 2026 season.
Not really much to say here other than this sucks and there have just been too many losses for Penn State this cycle. No one is going to bat 1.000, but after a strong March and April that had the Nittany Lions positioned to sign a Top 15 class, they have managed to lose Jamir Dean to Georgia, Zach Gleason to West Virginia, DeShawn Hall to Auburn, Khalil Taylor to Nebraska, and now Aiden Gibson to Rutgers. The class is now ranked No. 22, behind the likes of Cal, Kentucky, and…Virginia Tech.
Gross. The 2028 class needs to be better.
-
News28 minutes agoThree more people charged with damaging Reflecting Pool after Trump’s multimillion-dollar restoration | CNN Politics
-
Los Angeles, Ca2 hours agoLoved ones search for missing 34-year-old Southern California woman
-
Detroit, MI2 hours agoChickens, geese found at vacant home after nonprofit reports them stolen
-
San Francisco, CA2 hours agoWhat’s next for San Francisco Giants as MLB trade deadline approaches?
-
Dallas, TX2 hours agoDallas millionaire files lawsuit against groundwater district
-
Miami, FL2 hours ago7 more women arrested at southwest Miami-Dade massage parlors, accused of prostitution in undercover sting
-
Boston, MA3 hours ago‘They’re my buddies’: 96-year-old Back Bay woman befriends French soccer team
-
Denver, CO3 hours agoDenver officers cited for separate incidents, 1 fired
