Mass. House rejects torture restrictions

The Massachusetts legislature isn't any better than Congress at standing up to torturers. A bill which would have restricted the use of electric shock treatment to cases of "immediate risk of serious physical injury or harm to self or others" had been passed by the Senate. It hardly sounds like a difficult case, does it? But the bill to impose that restriction has been stopped in a conference committee.

This bill is directed at the Judge Rotenberg Center in Canton, the only institution in the country which still uses electric shocks on a routine basis. It gained notoriety when it subjected two inmates to repeated shocks on the basis of a fraudulent, unconfirmed phone call. All attempts to rein it in legally have failed so far. Torture is pretty popular with politicians these days.