Scalia: Nothing In The Constitution Prohibits Torture

FILE - In this Oct. 18, 2011, file photo U.S. Supreme Court justice Antonin Scalia smiles during a college address in Chicago. Scalia said late Wednesday July 18, 2012, that he hasn't had a "falling out" with Chief J... FILE - In this Oct. 18, 2011, file photo U.S. Supreme Court justice Antonin Scalia smiles during a college address in Chicago. Scalia said late Wednesday July 18, 2012, that he hasn't had a "falling out" with Chief Justice John Roberts over the Supreme Court's landmark 5-4 decision validating much of President Barack Obama's health care overhaul."There are clashes on legal questions but not personally," Scalia said of the court. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast, File) MORE LESS
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WASHINGTON (AP) — Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia is joining the debate over the Senate’s torture report by saying it is difficult to rule out the use of extreme measures to extract information if millions of lives were threatened.

Scalia tells a Swiss radio network that American and European liberals who say such tactics may never be used are being self-righteous.

The 78-year-old justice says he doesn’t “think it’s so clear at all,” especially if interrogators were trying to find a ticking nuclear bomb.

Scalia says nothing in the Constitution appears to prohibit harsh treatment of suspected terrorists.

The interview took place at the court on Wednesday, the day after the release of the Senate report detailing the CIA’s harsh interrogation of suspected terrorists. Radio Television Suisse aired the interview on Friday.

Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Notable Replies

  1. Avatar for anniew anniew says:

    So, since none of our treaties are specifically mentioned, are they all null and void? For all parties?

  2. Avatar for taters taters says:

    Yep. Nothing in there about anal rape or dismemberment. So we’re good, right?

  3. What an asshole.

  4. Scalia is absolutely right. The “cruel and unusual” refers to punishment, i.e. after being found guilty. The constitution says nothing about treatment before being found guilty. Voila! See how easy it is to wipe your ass with the constitution?

  5. Nothing in the Constitution specifically prohibits torture—but the second paragraph of Article Six serves the purpose.

    “This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding.”

    Since all of the Geneva Conventions and the UN Convention on Torture all expressly forbid torture in any form, and since all of those documents are treaties which the US signed and ratified in the Senate, Article Six makes those treaties the Supreme Law of the Land.

    So it can be argued that the Constitution, in a roundabout way, does indeed prohibit the use of torture.

    As usual, Scalia is working overtime to be dramatic and to call attention to himself as the only one who really know about the Constitution—when in reality, he’s just a fat putz.

Continue the discussion at forums.talkingpointsmemo.com

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