*Justice Scalia says Constitution doesn’t Preclude Torture*

By Onan Coca <http://eaglerising.com/author/onancoca/> / 17 December 2014 /

Last year the AP’s Mark Sherman wrote that Justice Scalia
<http://www.mediaite.com/online/justice-scalia-constitution-doesnt-prohibit-torture/>
had used the fictional character of Jack Bauer on Fox’s show *24* to
explain why there is more “gray area” surrounding torture than critics of
the practice like to admit.

*“Are you going to convict Jack Bauer? Say that criminal law is against
him? ‘You have the right to a jury trial?’ Is any jury going to convict
Jack Bauer? I don’t think so,” Scalia argued at an Ottawa legal conference
<http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/what-would-jack-bauer-do/article687726/>
in
2007. “So the question is really whether we believe in these absolutes. And
ought we believe in these absolutes.”*

Then in an interview with Radio Television Suisse
<http://www.rts.ch/la-1ere/programmes/le-journal-du-matin/6357256-le-journal-du-matin-du-12-12-2014.html#6357249>
from this past week, Justice Scalia continued to argue that the case
AGAINST torture is not as cut and dry as opponents like to pretend.

*“Listen, I think it’s very facile for people to say, ‘Oh, torture is
terrible. You posit the situation where a person that you know for sure
knows the location of a nuclear bomb that has been planted in Los Angeles
and will kill millions of people. You think it’s an easy question? You
think it’s clear that you cannot use extreme measures to get that
information out of that person?*

*I don’t know what article of the Constitution that would
contravene**,” *Scalia
said.

It’s an interesting point and one that has not been much discussed. Both
sides agree that torture is not ideal, but the question goes much deeper
than that. I believe that the USA should be above (and against) torturing
prisoners but should that preclude “enhanced interrogation” when an
imminent threat exists?

Maybe the legal questions of interrogation should be considered before we
simply decide that all “torture” should be redacted from our government’s
arsenal of defense tactics.


Read more at
http://eaglerising.com/12685/justice-scalia-says-constitution-doesnt-preclude-torture/#sLPhXqDk5jijm2qy.99




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