American Civil Liberties Union

By Joan McCarter, DailyKos

You wouldn't think that in the United States we would have to convene a symposium like this to discuss "our nation's use of torture." Those of us who've lived our entire lives in this country always learned that we grew up in a nation of laws, a nation of mercy and justice. You wouldn't think that this nation, created under the rule of law and thriving under it through the spasms of Civil War, world wars, economic disaster and social upheaval, could throw over its very foundation and commit the kinds of acts previously limited to rogue states and totalitarian regimes.