I am sickened by the news of another botched execution. The line between a death sentence and torture is beginning to be blurred. There are no regulations for the unethical process of taking a life, and that is appalling to me. The executioners aren’t doctors, or even nurses. The incompetence of those left in charge cause men like John Wood to writhe in pain for two hours before being pronounced dead. In my opinion that’s torture, and I’m not alone in my beliefs. Republican Senator John McCain said that this execution amounted to torture. To those who support capital punishment, I would ask, “Is torture really justice?” Since there are no regulations on the type of drugs and how they’re administered during execution, states have been experimenting with different combinations of drugs/chemicals on death row inmates. We need to put an end to the death penalty in Pennsylvania. Our neighboring states New Jersey and Maryland have already abolished the death penalty and have not seen a rise in crime rate. This shows that the death penalty isn’t deterring people from violent crimes. America, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and China make up 82% of all the capital punishment deaths in the world. Is that a list we really want to be on? We need to need to step up as a first world nation. As the state with the fourth most death row inmates we need to help lead the charge. R. Christian Allen Junior, Emerson College [email protected] 
