Alan Dershowitz opines that some forms of torture be legally permissible. Ian wonders about that.
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Piece Description
Alan Dershowitz opines that some forms of torture be legally permissible. Ian wonders about that.
Transcript
Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz came up with an idea a few years back – should there be a legal permit that allows torture, under certain conditions? In the wake of the unpleasantness of Abu Graibh, his idea been getting some credence, or at least some ears, still attached, hopefully.
In an article for the LA Times in November, 2001, he asked if authorities could be issued a “turture warrant” by a judge, “to employ specified forms of non-lethal physical pressure to compel the immunized suspect to talk.”
He continues, “…what if it were limited to the rare "ticking bomb" case--the situation
in which a captured terrorist who knows of an imminent large-scale threat refuses to disclose it?”
Of course, my feeling is, if the bomb is ticking, it’s probably too late for torture. Unless there’s some kind of fast food version I don’t know about. The rack, the bamboo shoots, elect...
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