Essay On 8th Amendment

You don't have to worry about a criminal committing the same crime twice, why? Because they won't be alive to even think about it!. The Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution states “Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.”, in other words, it protects American citizens from excessive or unnecessary punishments, fines, and bails. However, the death penalty is still an exception to “cruel and unusual punishments” when the punishment does not violate the standards of the Eighth Amendment. Based on the creation of death penalty in the eighth amendment, the constitution can be claimed as an inconsistently valuable but viable document in modern America. The death penalty also known as capital punishment is one that brings a lot of controversies but at the same time has been practiced throughout history in different forms and styles.

The U.S. Constitutional Rights are laws that guarantee the basic rights for the citizens.There are twenty-seven Constitutional Amendments in total, but 10 of them represent The Bill of Rights. The Bill of Rights ensures the basic individual protections such as freedom of speech and religion. The Bill of Rights became part of the Constitution in December 15, 1791 by George Mason.

This case presents an issue about the 8th amendment and the lack of specificity in the Constitution, specifically pertaining to minors. Graham was a minor at the time of the armed home robbery in the state of Florida. The Supreme Court has decided to revoke the punishment of life in prison without possibility of parole. This is because the majority of Supreme Judges believe that the 8th amendment is fundamental.

Are the courts violating the 8th amendment by imposing mandatory life imprisonment on juvenile offenders? Is this sentence initiating cruel and unusual punishment to juveniles?

The Eighth Amendment, ratified in 1791, and it had three clauses. The clauses are Cruel and Unusual Punishment, Excessive Fines, and Excessive bail. The Cruel and Unusual Punishment means that the state and federal government restrict how extreme the punishment is to a person who has done a crime. This clause is made so that the people that are accused are not tortured and killed cruelly. The Excessive Fines restrict the state and federal government the amount of money a person fined for a crime. This clause created was so that the government cannot take a lot of your money away. The Excessive bail means that courts can’t give a tremendous amount of bond to a person who has broken the law. This clause created so that the judge and jury cannot already make their decision before the case even begins. This is why the saying “an accused is presumed innocent until found guilty” is established.

The Eighth Amendment states “Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted” (The Eighth Amendment 231).When the Eighth amendment was written, there was an obvious concern for the mistreatment of criminals by the judicial system. The problem that arose was not the inability of the Supreme Court to understand the meaning between the words, but the inability to agree with what constitutes “Cruel and Unusual”. What one Justice considered not enough, another might feel that the punishment was too severe. McWilliams writes, “Even Justice Black, advocate for the proposition “that there are ‘absolutes’ in our Bill of Rights, and that they were put there on purpose by men who knew what

The prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment largely concerns itself with disproportionate and arbitrary punishments imposed by the government. “The Court has repeatedly emphasized the Eighth Amendment’s expansive and vital character and its capacity for evolutionary growth.” (Kanovitz, 2010) Cruelty is interpreted as actions that oppose current standards of decency. As public opinion grows and changes these standards are apt to change. The vague wording of the Eighth Amendment allows room for the opinion of what punishments are acceptable to adapt to modern times.

Under the authority of section 12, everyone (Children in this case) has the not to be subjected to any cruel and unusual treatment or punishment, and as a result, the disciplining of children through corporal punishment may only be applicable as long as the person in charge of the child exceeds what is considered “reasonable force” under the circumstances. In the case of section 7 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, in which everyone has the right to life, liberty, and security, along with the right not to be deprived of these rights except in accordance with the principles of fundamental justice. Moreover, this would primarily apply to the rights to the security of the person and the right to life, along with this being circumstantial due to the fact that the “Spanking Law” is legal in accordance with the reasonable boundaries which would prevent those in control of the child from abusing their power. This would apply to Section 7 of the Charter as it would "guarantee" the person security against and protect them from torture and cruel and unusual punishment, which includes extreme forms of child abuse which may be administered in the form of corporal punishment. Furthermore, this would also apply to the right of life in the case that the child does die at the hands of their caretaker or

The 8th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States prohibits cruel and unusual punishment, as well as the setting of excessive bail or the imposition of excessive fines. However, it has also been deemed unconstitutional by the Supreme Court of the United States (according to the Eighth Amendment)to inflict physical damage on students in a school environment for the purpose of discipline in most circumstances.      The 8th Amendment stipulates that bail shall not be excessive. This is unclear as to whether or not there is a constitutional right to bail, or only prohibits excessive bail, if it is to be granted.

The Eighth Amendment of the United States Constitution protects us to not be putted into cruel and unusual punishments, but when it comes to the death penalty, things become more complicated. In my personal opinion, I believe the absolute interpretation of the 8th Amendment and that the death penalty undoubtedly violates the 8th Amendment. Looking at the case of “Furman v. Georgia (1972)”, the Court invalidated death penalty laws in the end because the justices considered the punishment of the death penalty was too cruel and unusual to the Furman’ sin, accidentally killing people, and disproportionately using the death penalty would result in more serious problems to the poor and minorities. This decision fully reflected the reliability of

In the United States Constitution, the 8th Amendment prohibits the use and practices of cruel and unusual punishment. What exactly is considered to be cruel and unusual punishment? This question is a hot topic among America's many different current controversies. Many people are saying that the use of capital punishment (to be sentenced to death as a penalty in the eyes of the law [a capital crime]. An execution [capital punishment]) is a direct violation of the 8th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States (Capital Punishment). They say there should be another way to deal with these criminals other than having them executed. The purpose of this paper is to give a brief history of the death penalty

Corporal punishment is defined as causing deliberate physical pain to a student in response to an unwanted behavior, administered by a person of authority. The most common methods of corporal punishment in the United States are spanking, slapping, pinching, pulling, or hitting with an object such as a paddle or belt. Although research has demonstrated very little support for corporal punishment as being an effective method of disciplining, it is legal in 19 states, with the most incidents occurring in the five following states: Texas, Arkansas, Georgia, Mississippi, and Alabama. During the 2006-2007 school year, more than 223,000 students were physically punished at least once by a member of the school staff (Han, 2014). In Mississippi, corporal

Corporal punishment is a discipline method in which an administering adult inflicts pain upon a student (usually using a paddle) in response to a student's offensive behavior. Nowadays regulations have been created as to how many “swats” can be inflicted, by whom, and with what instrument. It is still used in many U.S. schools as a disciplinary method against disobedient or defiant students. Although corporal punishment is no longer tolerated in the military, prisons, or mental institutions, 21 states still allow corporal punishment in full or in part according to the U.S. Department of Education. Every year, more than 223,190 students are being subjected to this particular form of punishment in public schools, and a disproportionate

I shall outline the two differing arguments (pro-corporal and anti-corporal punishment) and conclude with the conditional corporal punishment which also reflect my own view, and which for me, is a neutral ground for both arguments to be

For decades leading back to slavery, corporal punishment has been used as a form of discipline to correct misbehavior on the plantation. In today’s society, it has been used by parents and even incorporated into our schools as a form of punishment. In Kenyan schools it is used as form of classroom management and to punish children for poor academic performance (Kenyan children suffer frequent beatings by teachers, 1999). Corporal punishment, according to the Committee on the Rights of the Child, is the use of physical force with the intention to cause some degree of pain or discomfort, however light. In schools, it mostly involves the use of the hand, a ruler or belt to strike a person across the back or hand. But it can also involve, for example, shaking, pinching or forcing students to stay in uncomfortable positions (Committee on the Rights of the Child, 2006).