Torture

A punishment inflicted in some countries on supposed criminals to induce them to confess their crimes, and to reveal their associates.

This absurd and tyrannical practice never was legal in the United States; for no man is bound to accuse himself. An attempt to torture a person accused of crime, in order to extort a confession, is an indictable offence.
   

This entry contains material from Bouvier's Legal Dictionary, a work published in the 1850's.