FC: Alan Dershowitz suggests judges could issue "torture warrants"

From: Declan McCullagh (declanat_private)
Date: Tue Nov 06 2001 - 06:22:40 PST

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    See also:
    
    "FBI wants to cast aside civil liberties, torture mentioned"
    http://www.politechbot.com/p-02684.html
    
    "The Objectivist Center applauds national IDs, torture, snooping?"
    http://www.politechbot.com/p-02709.html
    
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    From: "Robert Helmer" <roberthelmerat_private>
    To: "Declan McCullagh" <declanat_private>
    Subject: Dershowitz and Torture Warrants
    Date: Mon, 5 Nov 2001 11:00:42 -0600
    
    Declan, a few weeks ago on Cyberia I posted a satiric comment about the 
    government seeking the power to issue torture warrants against terrorist 
    suspects -- To my surprise, some took the posting seriously. And now, guess 
    what? Speaking in St. Louis yesterday, Alan Dershowitz seems to have come 
    out in favor of it. The Post-Dispatch reports the following in today's edition:
    
    "Even torture may not be off the table as an information-gathering tool, 
    Dershowitz said. But there must be a national debate about the 
    circumstances in which torture is permissible and who should have the power 
    to decide when to use it. Dershowitz suggested that judges could issue 
    torture warrants in certain cases."
    
    <http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/news/D2614FEED949540D86256AFB0043EB5B?OpenDocument&highlight=2%2Cdershowitz?opendocument&headline=U.S.+now+might+have+to+consider+what+once+was+unthinkable,+Dershowitz+says>http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/news/D2614FEED949540D86256AFB0043EB5B?OpenDocument&highlight=2%2Cdershowitz?opendocument&headline=U.S.+now+might+have+to+consider+what+once+was+unthinkable,+Dershowitz+says
    
    What's interesting is that, besides the wholly unconstitutional nature of 
    torture, no one seems to consider its complete lack of effectiveness as an 
    information gathering tool, since the nature of the duress it causes will 
    prompt the suspect to say anything he thinks the torturers want to hear.... 
    Witness the Inquisition, where suspects routinely implicated every possible 
    innocent bystander to simply meet the torturers' quota of truth....
    
    Thanks,
    
    Bob Helmer
    Daily Rotation
    <http://www.dailyrotation.com>http://www.dailyrotation.com
    Shell Extension City
    <http://www.shellcity.net>http://www.shellcity.net
    St. Louis, Missouri
    
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