Policy of Cruelty

The following is a quote from former Naval General Counsel Alberto Mora, featured in an article in the current New Yorker by Jane Mayer.

In my strongly held view, anyone who doesn’t wholeheartedly endorse this statement, and do everything in his or her power to see to it that every action taken by or under the authority of the government abides by its spirit, has no business serving in our government in any capacity.

“If cruelty is no longer declared unlawful, but instead is applied as a matter of policy, it alters the fundamental relationship of man to government. It destroys the whole notion of individual rights. The Constitution recognizes that man has an inherent right, not bestowed by the state or laws, to personal dignity, including the right to be free of cruelty. It applies to all human beings, not just in America—even those designated as ‘unlawful enemy combatants.’ If you make this exception the whole Constitution crumbles. It’s a transformative issue.”