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Why is the 8th Amendment necessary
8 amendment constitution
Bill Of Rights
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The bill of rights also known as the first ten amendments to the constitution was finally ratified in 1781. The purpose of the Bill of rights not only limits and acts as a type of restriction towards the power of the government but while doing so it benefits the citizens by securing their rights and reduces the considerable amount of federal authority. After seeing that the constitution did not meet the requirements of all states, the imposition of the Bill of rights reassured the people that their rights would not be violated, that the government would not oppress them and that it would protect them against tyranny. The 8th amendment found In the constitution protects against excessive bail, excessive fines and cruel and unusual punishments. The cruel and unusual punishment clause meaning, any punishment inhuman and not proportionate to the actual crime committed can not be inflicted upon and will be seen as illegal. Anything demeaning to human dignity, in other words torture, anything irrationable and/or unreasonable is considered a restricted punishments. Over the course of the years the 8th amendment has brought up controversy over what can be considered unconstitutional and inhuman. The definition of cruel and unusual punishment can be perceived in different ways but our interpretation of it is extensively different from those of that time.
The origin and creation of this law can be dated back to 1205 to the British Magna Carta. The Magna Carta set down rights which later became the foundation for the English system of common law. The 8th amendment was extracted and was influenced greatly by the Magna Carta which stated “For a trivial offence, a free man shall be fined in proportion to the degree of his offence, and for seri...
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... violated the 8th amendment he claimed that they were unjust and should be denounced. After making this claim the supreme court agreed and said it “met the standards for cruel and unusual punishment” The reason this case prevailed over the rest was because the punishments that Weems had to endure were disproportionate to the actual crime. The Death penalty may have caused a lot of discussions since under certain circumstances it may violate the 8th amendment but after the Roper vs Simmons case the 8th amendment takes another turn. The Roper vs Simmons case another very influential trial talks about a seventeen year old who violently killed a woman by throwing her off a bridge. Since he was below the age of an adult The supreme court siding with Simmons and agree that punishing him would be unconstitutional and unjust since he was a minor when he committed the crime.
.... Madison was applied to this decision because the actions committed were unconstitutional. According to the Supreme Court the 8th Amendment was broken because the District Court of Appeal was giving a cruel and unusual punishment to Graham. The 8th amendment claus does not allow a juvenile offender to be sentenced to life in jail without a parole for a non-homicidal crime. Therefore Terrance could not fall through with this punishment.
In the United States, a citizen has rights granted to them under documents such as the Constitution, including the Bill of Rights, which gives citizens certain freedoms as long as they obey the law. When someone commits a crime, they are then entitled to aspects such as a speedy trial, a fair jury, an attorney if they wish, and other things, under the sixth amendment. Even if the person is found guilty, as a U.S. citizen they have rights under the eighth amendment which include protection against excessive bail or fines, and cruel and unusual punishment. Since the framers enacted the amendment, the exact definition of cruel and unusual punishment has been difficult to pin down, changing with the times and everyone’s interpretations. Pete Earley’s novel, The Hot House: Life Inside Leavenworth Prison, depicts the conditions in the United States’ toughest prison, where some prisoner recounts, as well as Earley’s
From five states arose delegates who would soon propose an idea that would impact the United States greatly. The idea was to hold a meeting in Philadelphia called the Constitutional Convention in 1787 meant to discuss the improvements for the Articles of Confederation and would later be called the United States Constitution. The United States Constitution was greatly influenced by Ancient Rome, the Enlightenment, and Colonial Grievances.
In Federalist 78, Alexander Hamilton argued that the Judicial Branch is the “least dangerous to the political rights of the Constitution" and that it is “beyond comparison the weakest of the three departments of power” since it has “neither force nor will, but merely judgment.” [*] While it is true that Hamilton wrote the Federalist Papers as propaganda to garner support for the Constitution by convincing New Yorkers that it would not take away their rights and liberties, it is also true that Article III of the Constitution was deliberately vague about the powers of the Judicial Branch to allow future generations to decide what exactly those powers should be. In the 1803 case of Marbury v. Madison, the Supreme Court, led by Chief Justice John Marshall, established the Court’s power of judicial review. However, as Jill Lepore, Harvard professor of American History, argued, “This was such an astonishing thing to do that the Court didn’t declare another federal law unconstitutional for fifty-four years” after declaring the Judicial Act of 1789 unconstitutional in Marbury v. Madison. [*Jill Lepore] Alexander Hamilton was incorrect in his assertion that the Judicial Branch is the least dangerous to political rights and the weakest of the three government branches because judicial review has made the Supreme Court more powerful than he had anticipated. From 1803 to today, the controversial practice of judicial activism in the Supreme Court has grown—as exemplified by the differing decisions in Minor v. Happersett and United States v. Virginia—which, in effect, has increased the power of the Supreme Court to boundaries beyond those that Alexander Hamilton stated in Federalist 78.
Gordon Wood calls the new Federal Constitution a "radical experiment", and believes the framers of that Constitution to be political radicals, why does he believe so?
Donald P. Roper v. Simmons case was a landmark decision in which the Supreme Court of the United States held that it is unconstitutional to impose capital punishment for crimes committed while under the age of 18. The immediate consequence of Roper was that it saved the lives of 72 individuals who were condemned to die for crimes they committed as children. And as a consequence of murder he is now spending a long life time in prison. furthermore a consequence of Simmons actions, his family has to endure the imprisonment of there son or brother and he has to face trials for his freedom, whilst being in
The Eighth Amendment states that “Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.” The Eighth Amendment has two specific “elements” which define an individual’s actual rights retaining to the Eighth Amendment. The first “element,” “excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed” states that fines or bail should not be overly unobtainable or imposed on an individual. The second “element” of the Eighth Amendment, “cruel and unusual punishments inflicted,” states that cruel or unusual punishment will not be inflicted.
Weems v. United States (1910) set a judicial precedent for showing that punishment must be proportionate to the crime committed and allowed courts to decide what is “cruel and unusual”. Lower courts allowed the VIS and that use sometimes came under question. Thus the case was sent to the U.S. Supreme Court to review. In Booth v. Maryland (1987) and Gathers v. South Carolina (1989) the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that VIS could potentially lead to harsher sentences and yet upon further review reconsider their stance on VIS and overturn their decisions and concluded that the Eight Amendment was not violated by victim Impact statements on the ground that such statements did not lead to cruel and unusual punish...
The nineteenth amendment has changed the way women were treated and looked upon.There are many ways the nineteenth Amendment has changed in a bad was, but most of them have made a positive impact. Some people went along with the 19th amendment but some people didn’t think it was a good idea. Some people don’t know what or how the 19th amendment changed positively for women. But this paper is gonna show you all the ways it has positively changed the way people view and act towards women.
The 22nd Amendment is to prevent the United States of America from turning into a dictatorship by cutting down the terms you can serve to two four year terms and to limit the power one person can receive. The 22nd is an amendment that protects not only the U.S. but the people that reside there as well. It’s the story of how the constitution had no term limit for the president to run for to how it came to be two term set by the example of the first president.
...very similar to the 8th Amendment in the American Constitution. The American Founding Fathers subsequently used the Declaration of Rights ratified under William’s sovereignty. These guaranteed citizen’s rights to own arms and also prohibit excessive fines and unfair or illegal punishments. The American colonies used the British Bill of Rights written by the Commons in England as a model to write their complaints to George III and also a stepping stone to carve the Constitution.
we had no legally protected rights of free speech in anything like the form we
The Bill of Rights are the first ten Amendments to the Constitution. The Bill of Rights works to provide constitutional protection for the individual and to limit government power. The First Amendment and the Sixth Amendment protects the individual by allowing religious and political freedom, and by promising a public and speedy trial. The Fourth Amendment protects the individual’s privacy and limits the reach of the government into people’s homes and personal belongings. The three essential Amendments from the Bill of Rights are: the First Amendment- Religious and Political freedom: the Fourth Amendment- Search and Seizure: and the Sixth Amendment-Criminal Court Procedures.
Many call capital punishment unconstitutional and point to the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution for support. The amendment states that, "Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines be imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishment be inflicted." Those who oppose the death penalty target the 'cruel and unusual' phrase as an explanation of why it is unconstitutional. Since the Framers of the Constitution are no longer with us and we base our nation on the words in which that document contains, the legality of the death penalty is subject to interpretation. Since there is some ambiguity or lack of preciseness in the Constitution, heated debate surrounding this issue has risen in the last ten years.
The Constitution or “the supreme law of the land”, as stated in article six in the constitution is very complex. It is complex not only in its actual text full of ambiguities and vagueness, but it becomes more complex when used in practice and interpreted. Constitutional interpretation is significant because it is what decides what the constitution actually means. Constitutional interpretation is a guide judges use to find the legal meaning of the constitution. The interpretation of the constitution and amendments can make a big impact on outcomes. In our government and Judiciary, we see commonly see originalism being used to interpret the constitution and amendments, but there