First 10 Amendment Pros And Cons

Today, it’s hard to imagine the U.S. Constitution without the Bill of Rights. However, when the founding fathers we’re drafting the Constitution they didn’t feel the first ten amendments were necessary. The three men that believed these amendments should be included were, George Mason, Elbridge Gerry, and Edmund Randolph (4). James Madison was responsible for drafting the document and came up with seventeen sections (4). This number then got reduced to twelve, but only ten of those twelve were ratified. These final ten became the first ten amendments of the U.S. Constitution known as, the Bill of Rights (4). The Eighth Amendment states, “ excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.” This amendment also allowed for the death penalty. With this amendment in place some punishments have become completely forbidden such as taking away someone’s citizenship, or painful and hard labor. The U.S. Constitution was approved in September 1787, however Patrick Henry and George Mason felt that a bill of rights was still necessary (3). After the Constitutional Convention the men spoke on the issue of cruel and unusual punishments (3). Thomas Greenleaf wrote in the New York Journal in fall of 1787, “it has been declared,

This can relate to businesses in the sense that if a business commits a crime they can be bailed out without an excessive cost of bail or fines. The bail amount has to be reasonable in the sense that it uses a monetary amount that is compatible with the crime. For example, in the case of United States v. Bajakajian the Supreme Court ruled that it violates the Eighth Amendment Excessive Fines Clause, by failing to report property in excess of $10,000 while trying to leave the country (6) .The importance of making punishments proportional to their crimes, the Court reminded that the currency transportation is generally permissible