Research Paper: Capital Punishment Capital punishment is one of the most controversial and talked-about topics in the United States today. It is an issue that is not explicitly mentioned in our constitution, so states have been left to interpret the law. As of April 2017, 32 states in the US legally allow the death penalty. Of the 18 states that have banned it, the most recent was Maryland in 2013. The topic is so controversial that the Supreme Court has gotten involved many times, deciding on more
In order to understand the Eighth Amendment and how it pertains to To Kill A Mockingbird, one needs to understand the unjust ways the death penalty was implemented in the 1930’s with minority groups, especially African Americans. To this day, some still argue over whether the death penalty is discriminating towards African Americans and other minority groups or if it is even constitutional. In the novel, Atticus Finch, a white man, accepts the challenge of defending a black man, Tom Robinson for
that is being against the 8th amendment, but the judge still says you are going to die. So what now? OK. This particular example actually never happened but you are still right, being sentenced to death for a small crime like littering is still against the 8th amendment. Because that is a cruel and unusual punishment for a smaller crime like littering.The meaning and purpose of the 8th amendment has an enduring impact on many Americans lives. The whole 8th amendment from the Bill of Rights is, "Excessive
All our life we commit mistakes, but should a young teen’s life be taken away in a an instant because of an idiotic mistake they made? According to the eighth amendment, “Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.” It would be cruel to give a young teen a mandatory life sentence without parole without giving them the chance to redeem him/herself and get their life back together. I understand that there are crimes that have no forgiveness
Public humiliation violates the 8th Amendment for being a cruel punishment. The 8th Amendment states, “Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted,” meaning that if the punishments are unconstitutional by law the punishments should not be used and another
Don’t Breathe portrays suspense and fear in similar ways to other thriller films. In the beginning Rocky acted by Jane Levy, Money acted by Daniel Zovatto, and Alex acted by Dylan Minnette begin by robbing different homeowners as a means to acquire money to support their family as well sell the unneeded items. This excitement ended when they decided to rob a blind veteran who supposedly has $300,000 in cash in his home. Money without thinking of the repercussions decides to break in and attempt at
The Declaration of Independence is writing to send to King George telling him that the United States of America were separating from his rule. The men who sent it to him also sent a list of grievances along with it. Grievance number sixteen said, “For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world: For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent.” This grievance means that King George wouldn’t let them trade with anyone else in the world except with Britain. King George also made the citizens pay
This shows a sign of injustice. The Eight Amendment of the United States states that, “Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.” Who is to say what is excessive? People living in poverty could say that $100 is an excessive amount while an elite could afford bail set at $200,000. Pinto states that these flaws are necessary because without them the government would collapse. The United States government, “doesn’t so much have a flawed
The Constitution of the United States is the concrete platform that the nation is built upon which contains fundamental principles in which our nation is governed by. However, much of the Constitution is very ambiguous which leads to controversy in the court room. For example, the Eighth Amendment which states that “Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted” (Baltzell). The first part of the Eighth Amendment protects accused citizens
plans within. All Appeals of this case wernt heard until 2002 when the missouri supreme court passed simmons's execution due to the ruling of a similar case Atkins vs virginia. In This case atkins was exempt from the death penalty due to his mental state. Atkins was examined and tested of his abilities to think and make rational decisions. The verdict was
accomplices robbed a grocery store in Houston, Texas. During the robbery, Moore shot and killed the store clerk, a 76-year-old man named James McCarble and was consequently convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death. Moore appealed in both state and federal habeas relief courts and was granted relief by a federal court in the Fifth Circuit after arguing that precedent established in Atkins v. Virginia applied to his case. The habeas court granted relief based on the Atkins argument but the
April 13, 1896, involved a man identified as Homer Adolph Plessy. Plessy was a man of seven - eighths Caucasian and one - eighths of African descent in the State of Louisiana who was denied to sit in a passenger train car reserved for “whites only.” The case questioned the Supreme Court whether Louisiana’s law mandating racial segregation infringes the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution. On June 7, 1892, Homer Plessy paid for the first class passage on the East Louisiana Railway
said “Nobody can give you freedom. Nobody can give you equality or justice or anything. If you're a man, you take it”. Equality is having the same rights as someone or thing does, being treated fairly. The dictionary stated that equality is “ the state or quality of being equal; correspondence in quantity, degree, value, rank, or ability”. Some examples of equality would be Dr. Martin Luther King Jr gave his famous I have a dream speech on August 28,1963. Also there was a law passed to abolish slavery
However before all of that happened in 1890 a monumental statue was passed by the state of Louisiana. Even though the case of Plessy v Ferguson did not reach the Supreme Court until the year 1892, the real issue arose in 1890 when a Louisiana state statute was passed. This statue that was referred to as the Separate Car Act. The statue stated that rail companies carrying passengers in the state of Louisiana must
Also in the major part of north Africa (Somalia, Sudan, Uganda, Egypt), countries of Asia as China, India, Japan, Vietnam, Singapour, Indonesia. And also even in the American continent, putting in the first place the United States of America. But the death penalty is not only used by countries as a way of legal punishment, also a lot of extremist and terrorist groups use it. But, does really the death penalty has a positive impact? It is shown that the countries that use
schools. The landmark decision by the United States Supreme Court in 1896, upheld public segregation based on the color of one’s skin, is known as Plessy v. Ferguson . The decision by the justices on the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of separate but equal facilities based on race . The practice of segregation based on race stayed in effect for over sixty years until it was overturned in 1954 by the Supreme Court decision in
not equal towards colored and white people. 2. Plessy vs Ferguson was a United States Supreme Court case in America. During this time, there was segregation which was legal as long as equal facilities were provided for both races. This was known as “separate but equal”. Plessy was a 30-year-old man who
Can be separate but equal? The supreme court thought so in 1892.Just before The Supreme court decided this the 14th amendment was passed. It stated that “all persons born or naturalized in the United States”(The United States Constitution) were considered citizens. In the next coming years tension grew as African Americans soon found out that their separate stations were not equal to the white stations. Homer Plessy was the first to stand up and voice his opinion.The Plessy v. Ferguson Supreme Court
often looked at as one of the most well-known cases to make it to the U.S. Supreme Court. This case took place in 1896 and received much attention from both the black and white press, and was mainly accountable for the spread of segregation in the United States. In 1890, Louisiana passed a law that required blacks and whites to be separated on railroad cars. If there was only one passenger car in a train, the blacks and whites must be separated by a curtain or some other form of a barrier. This was
The Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified on July 9, 1868. It granted citizenship to all persons, born or naturalized in the United States. It forbids states from denying any person "life, liberty, or property, without due process of the law" or to "deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." An example of Supreme Court Case involving the Fourteenth Amendment is Plessy v. Ferguson. Homer Adolph Plessy was a successful Louisiana businessman