The eighth amendment is a protection for American citizens against “cruel and unusual punishment” and “excessive bail”. Roper v Simmons also violates the fourteenth amendment which addresses rights and citizenship, this became another hurdle in the case. The fourteenth amendment states “No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws” , in Roper v Simmons the Missouri Supreme Court was close to depriving Christopher Simmons of his life. Since Roper V Simmons states have reevaluated their minimum age for death penalty, 30 states do not even have a death penalty or capital punishment anymore. Cornell Law has also argued that because of Simmons’s age he was mentally incompetent, at the age at 17 Simmons is not eligible to “drink, serve on juries or even see certain movies…” , this was very intimidating and scary to Simmons’s prosecutor.
Key decisions The Eighth Amendment to the US Constitution prohibits the federal government from imposing excessive bail, excessive fines, and cruel and unusual punishments. It was added to the Constitution in 1791 to protect the basic human rights of individuals in the criminal justice system and prevent government abuse of power. The amendment has been the subject of much debate and controversy, but it remains an important safeguard against government abuse.
•Explain what the amendment says (in plain English) – Search and seizure: the fourth amendment. This amendment prohibits officers and active members of the law to unlawfully search or enter a home or school without a search warrant; and even with a warrant you can only search where evidence might be found. If you are looking for a stolen car, you cannot check the kitchen cabinets the car won’t be there. If an area is improperly searched and something is found that cannot incriminate anyone, and is not allowed to be displayed in the court of law. •Explore what issues made it important for lawmakers in the Early Republic--important enough to add this amendment to the Constitution.
Despite the theory behind the Eighth Amendment, judges often use excessively high bail amounts to prohibit an arrested individual from getting out of jail. This type of excessive bail is often used for people that have been arrested on suspicion of dealing drugs, murder or other crimes where flight is a real possibility. Many people have argued that this type of high bail violates the Eighth Amendment, but almost all have been unsuccessful. There are also situations in which bail is set at a reasonable amount, but the arrestee still cannot afford to pay the bail. When this happens, the arrested individual must wait to ask the judge to lower the bail amount at a special bail hearing or during the defendant 's first court appearance.
And while standing before the Supreme Court on January 17th, 1972, he persistently argued that the death penalty in the state of Georgia did, in fact, violate the United States Constitution. Amsterdam stated how the 8th Amendment discusses that the government is not allowed to constitute cruel and unusual punishment
The 10th Amendment Some people throw a party during the Fourth of July. We have this day because we won our independence from Britain. After this we created the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. These documents is what helped us make the freedoms we have today.
The 8th amendment states that “Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted”. Justice Samuel and four other justices conclude that the lethal injection does not cause harm and does not violate the 8th amendment according to this article. “ Testimony from both sides supports the District Court’s conclusion that midazolam(medicine) can render a person insensate to pain” says Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. Justice
In that case, the Supreme Court held that prison staff (whether doctors or officers or any others) violated the Eighth Amendment if they were deliberately indifferent to the serious medical needs of prisoners.
The sixteenth amendment gives the Congress mandate to collect taxes on income from all citizens without apportionment among the different states and regardless of the state’s population. The amendment was passed in 1909 and ratified in1913. The amendment was proposed as a result of the need for correction of the flaw in the collection tax terms. The government obtained taxes from the existence of a population in a state. The system was found to be unfair, especially to the poor states as the system did not consider the people’s income.
The Importance of the 24th Amendment and Effects. The U.S. Constitution has been amended twenty-seven times since ratified on June 21, 1788. These Amendments have been crucial to the up-keeping of America and its constant changes. The most of important of which being the 24th Amendment, which protected voting rights from taxes. The 24th amendment reads as followed “The Twenty-fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution prohibits both Congress and the states from conditioning the right to vote in federal elections on payment of a poll tax or other types of tax”.
In the United States Constitution, the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, and Eighth Amendments from the U.S. Bill of Rights, deal specifically with the rights of criminal defendants. The Fourth Amendment provided the criminal suspects protection from police officers and prosecutors for unreasonable searches and seizures. The Fifth Amendment guarantees a trial by jury, due process of law, and guards against double jeopardy and self-incrimination. The Sixth Amendment provided rights to accused persons and right to a speedy and public trial. The Eighth Amendment protects criminals from punishments.
Our class should study amendment number eight. 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.” This amendment prohibits the federal government from imposing unduly harsh penalties on criminal defendants, either as the price for obtaining pretrial release or as punishment for crime after conviction. (Constitutioncenter.org) states that, "The Cruel and Unusual Punishments Clause clearly prohibits cruel methods of punishment. " This means that if the federal government tried to bring back the rack, or thumbscrews, or gibbets as types of punishment, such efforts would violate the Eighth Amendment This amendment still
Does the death penalty violate the Eighth Amendment? The U. S. Supreme Court found to uphold the last penalty in Gregg v. Georgia (1976) as an acceptable sentence, when an offender has committed murder and ruled that the judgment did not offend the Eighth Amendment. Yet Americans have a fear of putting an innocent person to death. However, offenders are given the opportunity to have the death sentenced overturned. In fact, a direct appeal begins immediately in some of the sentencing state's highest courts when an offender is sentenced to the death penalty.
The Eleventh Amendment The Eleventh Amendment was passed in the 1800s to stop states from being sued without their consent. The amendment was first created so a citizen from another state without their permission could not sue states. Now the eleventh amendment has been expanded to mean that a citizen from another state, a citizen of its own state, or the government/citizen of a foreign country cannot sue a state unless they give permission. This amendment changed America by giving more power to the states by taking it from the Supreme Court. This report will show this by telling the its creation, people’s feelings towards it, the debates/controversies of it, affect and court cases involving the amendment, and how the government has violated
The practice of hanging has been cruel and unusual punishment which is the forefront of the Eighth Amendment. The cruelness comes in the fact that the person being hoisted by the noose can feel the pressure of the rope choking them to death. Hanging is illegal in most states and seen more commonly in the Eastern
