Richard Bernard Moore
Scheduled for Execution: November 1st, 2024
Richard Moore’s crime does not, by any fair standard, warrant the death penalty. If he is executed, it will be because of racial bias.
Richard was sentenced to death for the 1999 shooting death of convenience store clerk James Mahoney. Richard entered the store unarmed and defended himself when Mahoney pulled two guns on him. Moore wrestled one of the guns away and both Moore and Mahoney were shot. Mahoney died from his injuries. No other South Carolina death penalty case has involved an unarmed defendant who defended himself when the victim threatened him with a weapon.
Prosecutors struck all eligible African Americans from the jury that sentenced Richard to death. He is the last person on South Carolina’s death row sentenced by an all-white jury. Richard is Black and the victim was White. Former South Carolina Supreme Court Justice Hearn called Richard’s death sentence “a relic of a bygone era” as a result.
It’s on us to #SaveRichard. Richard’s punishment does not fit his crime.
Clemency Efforts
On Wednesday, October 30, 2024, Justice 360 attorneys submitted an Application for Executive Clemency on behalf of Richard Moore to Governor Henry D. McMaster. Moore’s clemency application is supported by many, including two jurors from his trial who originally voted in favor of the death penalty, the trial judge who imposed the death sentence, and a former Director of the SC Department of Corrections. Moore is scheduled to be executed on November 1st unless Governor McMaster intervenes.
Letter in Support of Clemency from a third juror (PDF)
Op-Ed by former Justice 360 Interns
Richard Moore Does Not Deserve To Be Executed (Op-Ed, Celia Dawahare & Noah Berg)
Call to Action
1.We need to show the Governor that Richard has the support of the public. You can help by writing, calling, or emailing Governor McMaster urging him to grant clemency for Richard Moore.
Phone: (803) 734-2100
Email:https://contactgovernor.my.site.com/constituents/s/contact-the-governor
Address: Office of Governor Henry McMaster. 1100 Gervais Street, Columbia, South Carolina, 29201.
2. Sign & Share Richard’s petition.
3. Follow Justice 360 on our social media channels and share our posts.
Articles on Richard
For more about how Richard’s death sentence is disproportionate, see As firing squad looms, man facing execution shares his SC death row story (Jennifer Berry Hawes, The
Post and Courier).
For more on the issue of race in Richard’s case, see Attorneys for Richard Moore levy human rights group in push for relief from SC death row (Kathryn Casteel, The Greenville News).
For more on the impact of Richard’s sentence and possible execution on his children, see:
Daughter of death row inmate talks new SC firing squad execution bill (Craig Melvin, MSNBC)
‘Don’t take his life’: South Carolina man faces execution despite state justice calling his sentence invalid (Sam Levin, The Guardian)
‘He’s not a monster.’ Son of South Carolina man set to be executed asks for clemency (Ted Clifford, The State)
The son of a South Carolina inmate urges the governor to save his father from execution (Jeffrey Collins, Associated Press)
For other articles related to Richard’s case and execution, see:
Richard Moore is to be Executed Nov. 1: A Former State Supreme Court Justice, Former Corrections Department Chief and Jurors are Among Thousands Advocating for His Clemency (Victoria Valenzuela, Scheer Post)
‘He’s not a monster’- the team trying to save Richard Moore from execution (Victoria Hansen, South Carolina Public Radio)
Richard’s Artwork
(Toggle over the images to see them in color)
HELP US SAVE RICHARD