Essay about 8th Amendment - 1153 Words

The Eighth Amendment 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 Supreme Court has never directly addressed this interpretation problem, because federal†¦show more content†¦(Sundquist 230) The first factor to be considered is the gravity of the offense compared to severity of the penalty. The second is penalties imposed within the same jurisdiction for similar crimes. The third item to be considered is penalties imposed in other jurisdictions for the same offense. (231) As far as capital punishment is concerned, the Eighth Amendment has been used to declare the death penalty invalid in numerous cases. Mandatory death penalties have repeatedly been found to violate the Eighth Amendment, and were first found to be unconstitutional in the cases of Roberts vs. Louisiana and Woodson vs. North Carolina. Arbitrary death sentences with no established criteria for application also violate the Eighth Amendment, as was ruled in the case of Furman vs. Georgia. In Furman vs. Georgia three cases had been brought to the Supreme Court concerning the death penalty and the racial biases present in the selection process. Three juries had convicted and imposed the death penalty on their accused without any guidelines to go by in their decision. This case (Furman vs. Georgia) represents the first time the Supreme Court ruled against the death penalty. The dissenting Justices argued that the courts had no right to challenge legislative judgment on the effectiveness and justice of punishments. The majority however held that the death penalty was cruel and unusualShow MoreRelated8th Amendment658 Words   |  3 PagesCriminal Justice JUS-250 March 28, 2014 Michael Strauch 8th Amendment: Protection for Domestic and Foreign Terrorist Our forefathers who wrote the Declaration of Independence and served the people from their states came together to form ideas and write a Constitution that would protect the people, property and their rights as citizen of the United States. These two documents are what we were founded on. The simple version of the 8th Amendment, â€Å"Prohibits the federal government from imposing excessiveRead MoreImportance Of The 8th Amendment1109 Words   |  5 Pagespeople to ratify the constitution, the founding fathers agreed to add a Bill of Rights. The Bill of Rights added 10 amendments to the constitution. The 8th amendment in the Bill of Rights is the most important amendment because it protects the right to no cruel or unusual punishments for committing a crime, the right to have a reasonable bail fee, and to have no excessive fines. The 8th amendment’s most confusing, and yet most important feature, is the right to no cruel or unusual punishments. The statementRead MoreEssay On The 8th Amendment1791 Words   |  8 PagesThe Most Significant Amendment in the Bill of Rights Throughout the history of this ever-expanding nation as well as many others, there have been times in which words alone were able to stop an action. Consequences were bountiful and punishment seemed to be thought of on the fly. 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Solitary confinement was first introducedRead More Gender and Our Judicial System Essay2349 Words   |  10 Pagesincorporate our societies changing paradigm that was dissimilar to our founding fathers’. Interestingly so, the rights they deemed as inalienable are the ones that have required a clear distinction in order for them to apply to all. The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) is a necessary requirement for women as well as others who are subject to sex-based discrimination. Although the rights of women are somewhat protected by the constitution, without the clear diction of the ERA, those who face this type of discriminationRead MoreThe Cell Phone Education Regulation Act872 Words   |  4 Pagesschool officials’ decision to keep the cell phones which are confiscated during the random searches, violate the 5th Amendment of the Constitution which guarantees that before any power or authority can take a person’s life, liberty or property, there must be constitutional safeguards set in place? Aren’t the students and their parents afforded due process under the 5th and 14th Amendments of the Constitution which provides the right to receive with ample notice and reason why the Cellular EducationalRead MoreThe Death Penalty : Is It Constitutional Or Moral? Essay1559 Words   |  7 Pagesopposing Great Britain. Therefore, the framers of the constitution Dyess 2 created rights to protect Americans from wrongful death, improper trails, and unusual punishments. The death penalty is a violation of an American’s 5th, 8th, and 14th amendments. The Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution states, No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in theRead MoreThe Amendment Of The 14th Amendment974 Words   |  4 Pagesstep at achieving this world with the passage of the 14th amendment. The intent of the 14th amendment was to prevent state governments from denying African Americans in the U.S. from their citizenship. At the time Africans were unable to attain citizenship because of their skin color. The Framer’s objective in formulating the 14th amendment was to grant citizenship to everyone born in the U.S., regardless of skin color. The 14th amendment expanded the protection of civil rights to all citizens in