In this week’s survey of 100 UMB students, 64 said that torture could never be justified. The other 36 said human lives are more valuable than individual human rights. And 65 of the students polled said people that the US captures during a war should not be tried in US courts according to US law.Here is how our questions were phrased. 1) Is there ever a justification for manipulating someone through physical threats or torture into saying things against their will? 2) Should people that the US captures in war be tried and sentenced according to US law?The 64 students who said “no” to the first question often answered hesitantly, concerned about the effectiveness of torture and its moral ramifications.”As a society, no. We shouldn’t set that precedent, but I could see there being justifications in individual cases . . . My answer’s no . . . As a society it’s important to have moral boundaries,” said one student.Other students saw the idea of torture as less of a moral problem, and more of a practical problem.”It really depends on the situation. I mean, if it will definitely rescue 400 people or something from death, torturing one guy might seem plausible. I’m just not sure how effective it is,” said another student.Most of the 36 students who said “yes” to this question also invoked utilitarian thought experiments.”There’s that human rights stigma, but if you’ve got a terrorist… If there was a terrorist plot that we could stop by torturing one guy, I could see it being morally ok to torture him for the information.”So US law is not always the best law in extreme situations. 65 of the students polled agree on the second question. War captives shouldn’t be held accountable to US law. The reasons ranged from “war captives aren’t necessarily criminals so they should be tried in international courts not in the US” to “the military should be in charge of its prisoners not the US judicial system.”The 27 students who thought that the US judicial system should be used to convict war captives cited human rights. They said they have faith in the US judicial system, and that the rights outlined in the US Constitution should be universal, not limited to US citizens.