Only in cases where a criminal clearly has or clearly can be assumed to have the information needed by law enforcement to solve or prevent other critically significant crimes, law enforcement personnel should be allowed to use torture, or any other means, as a way to compel the flow of that information. Critically significant crimes would include crimes or potential crimes in which human life is at risk of murder.

Either at the time of sentencing or at any time thereafter, the courts could determine what the likely value of the withheld information is so as to help determine the amount of torture that should be allowed to force the divulging of the information. (The authority of a law enforcement entity to conduct torture would be determined, in part by a credit system, which is based on the historical confirmation of that law enforcement agency’s ability to gain the desired, but accurate, information during previous torture cases.) The torture would be reduced according to how much information is given and how true the information turns out to be. If a criminal does not offer any information, then the torture would continue throughout the entirety of his sentence. Criminals may offer as much information as they want and at any time they want, however, if any of this information falsely accuses another person of something, that criminal should receive at least double the penalty that the falsely accused would have received if convicted on the false accusations. In addition, the prisoner would be fined (or suffer additional torture) for each unit of time that he delays in divulging the necessary information or until investigators find out that information through some other means. If investigators find the information through some other means, the tortured criminal who withheld that information would be charged with the theft of the amount of money it took to gain the information through those other means. The tortured criminal would also need to pay a punitive multiple penalty on that amount.

The torture that would be used would be the kind that would only inflict safe pain. No type of torture would be used if there existed with it a possibility of permanent damage or significant permanent physical or psychological marks. The single highest person in charge of the investigation should always approve every method of torture used. In some cases, torture may be imposed without court authorization. The criminal would be responsible for paying all torture costs incurred.