LA authorities plan to use heat-beam ray in prison.
The ACLU is arguing that this is torture, but the director of technology over the sheriff's office said:
Neat? Hmmmmm . . . Perhaps just a poor word choice, but still caused me to raise an eyebrow. Anyway, the 8th amendment implications are interesting. Is it torture if it just causes physical pain but no injury? If indeed, the device was only used as described in the article, is it torture?:
The mechanism, known as an "Assault Intervention Device," is a stripped-down version of a military gadget that sends highly focused beams of energy at people and makes them feel as though they are burning. The Los Angeles County sheriff's department plans to install the device by Labor Day, making it the first time in the world the technology has been deployed in such a capacity.
"The neat thing with this device is you experience pain but you are not injured by it."
The natural response when blasted — to leap out the way — would be helpful in bringing difficult inmates under control and quelling riots, the sheriff said.
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