From KCRW in Santa Monica and PRI, Public Radio International, this is To the Point.

Is the death penalty still really needed?

Hello again, I'm Armin Alney, and this is To the Point from Public Radio International.

A daily look at the issues Americans care about most.

Capital punishment's on the decline in the U.S.,

but it's back in the news since federal prosecutors

said they would seek death for the Boston Marathon bomber.

In addition, death penalty states can't get the drugs used

for lethal injections because European companies

won't export them anymore for that purpose.

And replacements used in two recent executions have raised questions about cruel and unusual

punishment.

Legislators in some states want to go back to gas chambers, firing squads, and hangings,

renewing familiar questions.

Is the ultimate penalty a deterrent?

Can it ever be humane? First, here's the news.

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International Program Fund. Hello again. We're on. I'll be back with To the Point.

32 states still have the death penalty, but it's getting hard to administer now that European

companies are refusing to export the right drugs for lethal injections. Will that lead to

...