[Books one and two spoilers] Can you actually prove that a scythe gleans with excessive cruelty?

In book one, scythe Goddard accuses himself of that at two conclaves in a row via a fake anonymous accuser, but, with the general Scythedom standards, can you actually make a case that a crime like that was committed?

I mean, gleaning with fire is perfectly legal (for most of the book), even though it's as far from painless as possible, and Chomsky appears to have it as his calling card. Scythe Faraday, one of the "humane" old guard scythes drowned a person (again, legal). Scythe Anastasia arguably subjects those she gleans to mental torture by having them wait for it like Age of Mortality convicts on death row. Goddard does mass gleanings. Again, legal. (Though, frankly, killing a large number of people at the same place isn't worse than killing that same number at different times and places.)

My point is, the Scythedom standards appear to be so lenient I can't imagine what you'd have to do for your methods to be deemed "excessively cruel." I mean, if burning people to death and drowning them doesn't cut it, what would?