8th Amendment The Eighth Amendment is a very surprisingly important amendment that is commonly forgotten. This amendment was necessary, and more shockingly needed than expected. It was against the need and use for excessive bails or cruel and unusual punishment. Many people have experienced the need for this law in the past and had a big impact on cases nationwide. It has saved lives from the mistakes made before this amendment. The judge has the opportunity to assign legal punishments and penalties, but the purpose of this amendment was too protect them from the preposterous punishments like the excessive use of the death penalty for cases not necessary. The history of the amendment actually dates back to the roots of the amendment which was used in the Bill of Rights in 1689. The new amendment made in 1791 was a replica in a way of what was in the Bill of Rights. The practical use for this amendment was obviously needed because the punishments used back in those early times was much more aggressive and cruel. The death rate that came with the amount of these punishments was out of hand, and obviously now we don’t see any cruel punishments like they used to. There are still cruel punishments but the amendment made them more suppressed and reduced the number of them drastically. The Amendment was a safeguard for the American people. And might not be seen as important anymore because you never see cruel punishment that often, but the reason you never see it is because of