Federal · Title 42 — Public Health and Welfare

42 U.S.C. § 2000dd: Additional prohibition on cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment

Civil

What this law says, in plain English

Federal law prohibits cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment of individuals in U.S. government custody, regardless of location or nationality. The President must establish rules to ensure compliance.

Read the full statutory text

No individual in the custody or under the physical control of the United States Government, regardless of nationality or physical location, shall be subject to cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment. In this section, the term “cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment” means cruel, unusual, and inhumane treatment or punishment prohibited by the Fifth, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution of the United States, as defined in the United States Reservations, Declarations and Understandings to the United Nations Convention Against Torture and Other Forms of Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment done at New York, December 10, 1984 . The President shall take action to ensure compliance with this section, including through the establishment of administrative rules and procedures.

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This page is legal information, not legal advice. Code text is sourced from official publications and may lag amendments — always confirm at the official source linked above. Plain-English summaries and relationship data are AI-derived and reviewed on an ongoing basis; verify with a licensed attorney before acting.