Origin Of Torture As A Method

Torture is something that is known as wrong internationally. Torture is “deliberate, systematic or wanton infliction of physical or mental suffering by one or more persons acting on the orders of authority, to force a person to yield information, to confess, or any other reason” (World Medical Association, 1975, pg.1). There is a general consensus that there is a right to be free from any kind of torture as it can be found in many different human rights treaties around the world. The treaties show that all of the thoughts about torture are pointing away from the right to torture someone no matter what the case

In medieval times, torture was used to punish criminals, deter crime, and gather information. There were many different types of torture, most of which were brutal and painful. At the time, torture was deemed necessary to maintain order. Laws were harsh and torture was severe, but effective, the form of punishment. Though the methods have changed, torture still exists today. Despite its effectiveness in the past, torture is an unfair and cruel punishment, and should be eliminated in all forms.

With the development of prisons, this changed how punishment and torture was viewed, at least in the public eye. The act of torturing, however unfortunate, comes naturally in regards to punishment. A big reason to why torture is no longer heard about in the prisons is because torture is now done the private spectrum instead of in

David Figueroa Eng. 101A Professor Stern 4/20/15 Final draft In conclusion, in discussions of torture, one controversial issue has been on the use of it. On one hand, the people against torture argue that it is cruel and unusual punishment. On the other hand, those for torture argue that it should be used for the greater good. Others even maintain that under extreme circumstances, it may be admissible if it can save American lives. My own view is that no one should be subjected to cruel punishment because it is not only illegal, unreliable, ineffective, time consuming, it also has too many flaws that could potentially ruin innocent lives. The definition of torture is any act, whether physical or emotional, or maybe both, is intentionally subjected to a specific individual or a group for many reasons. Most of these reasons that torture is administered is for extracting information from an individual or just for punishing him/her for a crime that he/she has committed or is suspected of committing. The use of torture can be used to intimidate a person to give information that may be beneficial for a nation. The use of torture has been used for many centuries. The purposes of using torture have changed over the years as well as the methods in which a person is tortured. One crucial piece that has been established that separates us human beings from barbarians is the prohibition of using torture. There are many reasons why torture has been deemed a crime now in society. There are

The Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution limits the punishments that may be imposed by the government on American citizens. These limits are compulsory among the states by way of the Fourteenth Amendment. The English Bill of Rights of 1689 expressed concern with arbitrary and disproportionate sanctions, giving way to the Founders inclusion of the prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment. To explore the Eighth Amendment it is important to consider constitutionally accepted punishments, the ever-evolving practice of capital punishment, and eighth amendment protection inside prison walls.

The Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, sanctioned in 1791, has three arrangements. The CRUEL AND UNUSUAL PUNISHMENTS CLAUSE confines the seriousness of disciplines that state and governments may force upon people who have been indicted a criminal offense. The Excessive

The suffering, pain, or humiliation, of a person is considered cruel and unusual punishments and is not acceptable by the Eighth Amendment which states the prohibiting the federal government from imposing excessive bail, excessive fines, or cruel and unusual punishments. With this amendment you have the rights of; protection from physical brutality, rape, sexual assault, and sexual harassment, your rights to decent conditions in prison, also your rights to medical care.

In discussion of the 8th amendment the topic that will be covered is the history before the amendment has been attached to the Bill of Rights, the interpretations of the amendment, and the amendment in affecting this generation today. This amendment officially states in the Constitution, “Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted” (CRS/LII Annotated Constitution Eighth Amendment). This emendation is about the government mandating that punishments are not allowed when they are cruel or unusual. “…; but it is safe to affirm that punishments of torture [such as drawing and quartering, emboweling alive, beheading, public dissecting, and burning alive], and all the others in the

The 8th amendment prohibits any type of punishment that is cruel or unusual in our correctional system. For example, in prison, a guard cannot cut an inmate's ear off or subjugate him/her to a whipping for finding contraband in their bunk.

“Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishment inflicted.” The Eighth Amendment states that punishments must be fair and fines shouldn’t be excessive or to expensive. No cruel or unusual punishment means you are not allowed to torture the accused person. This amendment has created different laws for the death penalty, for example death by a firing squad is not allowed that would be considered cruel . The death penalty is not stated has cruel or unusual punishment in this amendment, the states get to choose whether or not they want to use it.

There were many reasons for torture in medieval times. A few reasons would be trying to get information out of a citizen, or trying to get a person to own up to a crime, or to just execute them. The word torture comes from the French word torture, originating in the late Latin tortura and ultimately deriving the past participle of torquere, meaning ‘to twist’ (Medieval 1). An

Torture (Latin torquere, “to twist”), in law, infliction of severe bodily pain either as punishment, or to compel a person to confess to a crime, or to give evidence in a judicial proceeding. Among primitive peoples, torture has been used as a means of ordeal and to punish captured enemies. Examination by torture, often called the “question,” has been used in many countries as a judicial method. It involves using instruments to extort evidence from unwilling witnesses.

In order for a confession to considered valid, the examining magistrate had to refrain from supplying evidence to the suspect during the investigation. A confession under torture had to appear voluntary according to Roman-canon law. Meaning the accused must repeat the confession, publically, without the use of torture. (Langbein 5) This shows that when these laws were first created the creators understood that the confession given under duress wasn’t always reliable. Even if the suspect was able to endure a session of torture that did not mean that they were free and charges would be dropped. Often times the accused would have to endure repeated session of torture. “...Even if you bear it all, yet you will not escape,...but one torture will follow after another until you say you are a witch. Not before that” (Levack 201). It was not uncommon for a judge to permit the repetition of torture if the suspect had resisted confession. There were many different forms of torture used, typically the longer the accused withheld their confession the more intense the torture would

Throughout the course of history torture has been practiced; Romans, Jews, Egyptians and several addition civilizations in history incorporated torture as a part of their justice system. Romans had crucifixion, Jews had stoning and Egyptians had desert sun death. All these acts of torture were thought as being necessary, or just. The first signs of torture can be found in 530AD, when the great Roman jurists adopted the virtues of torture as ‘the highest form of truth’. A Greek legal orator named, Demosthenes believed that “no statements made as a result of torture have ever been proved untrue” (Green). Centuries later, Italian and French officials rekindled Roman Law, to be solidated as a source of jurisdiction in civil law systems. During

Europe is the place to visit if this is what you're into. Many cities and towns have medieval torture museums. We liked one that we visited at Mont St. Michel in France. For those of you who can't afford to travel, check out the movie version of Edgar Allen Poe's The Pit and the Pendulum starring Lance Henrickson. Don't know how historically accurate it is, but it's great atmospherically.