Human Torture SHOULD Be Legal Essay - 1837 Words

Despite the unconstitutionality of the practice, torture has had a presence throughout our nation’s history. From the Salem witch trials of 1692, in which Giles Corey was pressed to death, to the twenty-first century waterboarding of terrorist suspects, the United States has not always lived up to the ideal that torture should never be used for any purpose. The popular culture image of a man being beaten by police officers in a locked room away from public view is not just fiction but a semi-officially accepted means of ‘getting the job done.’ Alan Dershowitz refers to the specific example of â€Å"†¦ a case decided in 1984, [in which] the Court of Appeals for the 11th circuit commended police officers who tortured a kidnapper into†¦show more content†¦Once you agree that, however distasteful it may be, torture may be an acceptable option under certain circumstances, you must then concern yourself with the practicality of its application. Fir st, it must be determined when it would be acceptable to use torture in an official capacity. It should not be used as a deterrent towards future heinous acts, although this may be a beneficial side effect. To torture someone simply to send a message to our nation’s enemies would not only be counterproductive but also an act of evil. While torture itself may be seen as evil by many, there are situations where it would potentially be more evil to do nothing at all. Creating a set of guidelines also mitigates the possibilities of greater harm done in the heat of the moment. Torture is already being employed by authority figures but without a clearly defined set of official guidelines. Michael Levin states that â€Å"[he] is advocating torture as an acceptable measure for preventing future evils (549).† The situations in which torture could be allowed must be emergent in nature, with the clearly defined possibility of death or injury to the innocent. Beating a confession out of a suspected murderer would not be an authorized use of torture, because the terrible event has already taken place. No one’s life is immediately at risk ifShow MoreRelatedTorture Is Not Always Protect The Vulnerable1672 Words   |  7 PagesTorture is not always used to protect the vulnerable; historically it has been used to extract information about the enemy, to bring terror especially during conflicts and to punish the defeated. Despite the fact that it might seem morally justifiable, it is morally unethical. Torture in this form of practice is uncontrollable; people lose their lives or became damaged for lifetime. 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