Taser is Torture

The Eighth Amendment of the United States Constitution reads,

"Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted."

However, it is becoming all too common for the average on-duty police officer to carry a torture device, and in many cases, get away with murder.

How is it that officers of the law may at their own discretion, inject lethal electric shocks into alleged suspects, often for nothing more than being unruly and hostile to the official?

Shows like COPS have long pushed the idea of giving the police the benefit of the doubt when using force. It is this reign of accepted violence by law enforcement which now hampers real progress on eliminating taser use altogether.

It can be singly agreed that giving people forceful electric shocks to subdue them can by no way be considered humane, and often much more painful and torturous than past ways of subduing out-of-control people. There is no excuse for its need, and defending the use of taser only further legitimizes torture.

Our society has become one of expediency. However, sadly force is often a bridesmaid of expediency. And if we are to sacrifice our values of liberty for such "convenience", soon enough force becomes the norm, and it replaces reason as the ultimate paradigm in our society. Simply put, taser is torture and torture is wrong.