Deeply embarrassing that a Supreme Court Justice does not realize that the ticking time bomb scenario undercuts the utility of torture since the person tortured knows exactly how long he has to wait until the bomb explodes, when there will be no more need for torture. This is why military generals all say that it does not work, especially against religious extremists. This man is appointed to the highest bench for life and gets his policy cues from television dramas?! There was also a story on this today on NPR in light of recent pressure against the program.

Nino Scalia questions, “Is it really so easy to determine that smacking someone in the face to determine where he has hidden the bomb that is about to blow up Los Angeles is prohibited in the constitution? How close does the threat have to be? And how severe can the infliction of pain be?” But to what end and at what cost? And once those innocently convicted are set free from Gitmo prison camps, for example, how is America to resolve such spawned, exacerbated global animosity against the very principles that its constitution espouses? Perhaps we need to think a little harder for less-costly alternatives, rather than writing our own death sentence to an already ill-fated future.