The eight amendment to the United States Constitution is part of the United States Bill of Rights, which took effect on December 15, 1791, after a three fourths of the states ratified the bill. This amendment prohibits the federal government from imposing excessive bail, excessive fines, and cruel and unusual punishment. It is almost identical to a provision in the English Bill of Rights of 1689, in which parliament declared that excessive bail ought not be required, nor excessive fines imposed , nor cruel and unusual punishment inflicted. The state of Virginia had adopted this section of the English Bill of Rights in the VIrginia Declaration of rights of 1776, and the Virginia convention that ratified the US Constitution recommended in 1778 …show more content…
In pre independence america, bail law was based on English law. Some of the colonies simply guaranteed their subjects the protections that they would have in Britain. However in 1776, after the declaration of Independence, colonies abandoned that of British law and enacted their own versions of bail law. In the Virginia 1776 constitution it stated excessive bail ought not be required, but in 1785 they added that those shall be let to bail who are apprehended for any crime not punishable in life or limb, but if a crime be punishable by life or limb, or if it be manslaughter and there be good cause to believe the party guilty thereof, he shall not be admitted to bail. The eight amendment is directly derived form this and the cases that are available for bail have changed over the years. In 178p the Judiciary Act was passed. This act stated that all non capital crimes are bailable and that in capital cases the decisions to detain a suspect, prior to trial was to be left up to the judge. Then in 1966, Congress put into affect th Bail Reform Act which stated that a non capital defendant is to be released, pending trial, on their personal bond, unless the judicial officer determines that such incentives will not adequately assure his appearance at trail. Individuals that are charged with a capital crime, or …show more content…
The Court consolidated Jackson v. Georgia and Branch v. Texas with the Furman decision, and thus also invalidated the death penalty for rape. In the Furman case, the victim awoke in the middle of the night to find William Henry Furman burgling his house. At trial, in an unsworn statement allowed under Georgia criminal procedure, Furman said that while trying to escape, he tripped and the weapon he was carrying fired accidentally, killing the victim. This contradicted his prior statement to police that he had turned and blindly fired a shot while fleeing. In either event, because the shooting occurred during the commission of a felony, Furman would have been guilty of murder and eligible for the death penalty under then-extant state law. Furman was tried for murder and was found guilty based largely on his own statement. He was sentenced to death. The Supreme Court split five to four in overturning the imposition of the death penalty in each of the consolidated cases. Each of the nine justices wrote separately, with none of the five justices constituting the majority joining in the opinion of any other. Justice Potter Stewart, as one of the majority, wrote that "These death sentences are cruel and unusual in the same way that being struck by lightning is cruel and unusual. For, of all the people convicted of rapes and murders in
The Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, and Eighth Amendments are part of the Bill of Rights which includes the first ten Amendments to the Constitution of the United States. These rights apply to the citizens of our great country. The Fourth Amendment covers search laws and has a significant impact on law enforcement procedures. If these procedural rights are not followed, there can be devastating consequences to the outcome of a case.
The eighth amendment of the United States Constitution prohibits cruel and unusual punishments. New Cutting edge technology carries with it the likelihood of new treatment for criminals. A fictional example of such technology is Ludovico treatment, which alters the consciousness of a criminal and makes them non-violent. The use of the Ludovico treatment on prisoners can be considered a cruel and unusual punishment and thus violate the eighth amendment. Even though this treatment may be technically unconstitutional, it would be allowed in the United States for the betterment of society.
The first “element” states that “excessive bail shall not be required, not excessive fines imposed.” Bail is a temporary
Interpretation of the Eighth Amendment-Rummel, Solem and The Venerable Case of Weems v. United States. Duke Law Journal, Vol. 1984:789. Retrieved from http://scholarship.law.duke.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2886&context=dlj&sei-redir=1&referer=http%3A%2F%2Fscholar.google.com%2Fscholar_url%3Fhl%3Den%26q%3Dhttp%3A%2F%2Fscholarship.law.duke.edu%2Fcgi%2Fviewcontent.cgi%253Farticle%253D2886%2526context%253Ddlj%26sa%3DX%26scisig%3DAAGBfm0U6qTJJcBT1EoWmQVHDXIojJgBHw%26oi%3Dscholarr#search=%22http%3A%2F%2Fscholarship.law.duke.edu%2Fcgi%2Fviewcontent.cgi%3Farticle%3D2886%26context%3Ddlj%22
The twelve amendments brought to congress were changed to the ten we have today. However, it must be noted that the second of the twelve amendments was removed but later became the twenty-seventh, which requires compensation for the services of the Senators and Representatives of this country (Twenty-seventh Amendment). After every state had voted on the ratifications, the ten Bill of Rights was accepted in 1789 and officially became part of the U.S. Constitution in 1791 (Bingham). Some of these rights included freedom of religion, speech, and assembly, the right to bear arms and refuse quarter, right to a speedy trial, and freedom from unwarranted search and
This amendment was fairly easy to add to the constitution, because most of the state constitutions had already install the amendment to their own (Wood). It was one of the short addressed problem other than the rights of protecting private property and quarters for soldiers during a war situation. The only argument against was by Anti-Federalist who wanted the ban of quartering completely. This argument was never acted on once the Bill of Rights was agreed on by the delegates (Morriss).
In the late 1600’s judges were known as servants to the king. There rulings weren’t always fair so, they debated for their freedom and won their independence that they felt they needed from their king. The Seventh Amendment was created for the sake of the people, allowing them to get a fair trial. Giving each accused a chance to defend themselves, allowing a body of people decide if you will be guilty or innocent instead of having just one judge alone
On December 15, 1791, the Bill of Rights was ratified effective by Congress. These first ten amendments to the Constitution of the United States of America promised the states certain rights and freedoms which could not be infringed by the government. After all, the founding fathers knew from experience that men in their weakness were often tempted by power. They had become all too familiar with this when under the control of King George in England. Therefore, in order to protect the future people of their beautiful country, they promised certain liberties which could not be taken away. Every single one of these freedoms is important for the United States of America. However, the second amendment is especially important to our nation because it allows the people to protect their freedom and defend themselves and the common good against an overreaching government.
In 1787, the Constitution, created by a group of men known as the “Framers”, is the highest law in the United States. At first, the Constitution was not ratify because it did not have a bill of rights which is a list of rights that belong to the people. Therefore to allow changes to the Constitution, the Framers created the amendment process. In 1791, congress proposed twelve changes to the Constitution. Ten of the twelve changes were agreed to by the states and were called “The Bill of Rights.” Some of these rights include the right of free speech, the right to practice your own religion and the right to be silent if you are arrested.
The principle of bail is basic to our system of justice and its practice as old as English law itself. When the administration of criminal justice was in its infancy, arrest for serious crime meant imprisonment without preliminary hearing and long periods of time could occur between apprehension and the arrival of the King's Justices to hold court. It was therefore a matter of utmost importance to a person under arrest to be able to obtain a provisional release from custody until his case was called. This was also the desideratum of the medieval sheriff, the representative of the Crown in criminal matters,
Antifederalist wanted prohibitions against cruel and unusual punishments and demanded for jury, trial, and freedom of religion. Madison regarded the proposal and amended the Bill of Rights. Madison’s ideas were composed into twelve amendments to protect individual rights from government interference. Ten of Madison’s ideas were ratified and became the Bill Of Rights. The Bill of Rights is considered to be the most important section of the United States Constitution. The BOR was passed and approved on September 25,
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.
Tenth Amendment Our bill of rights all began when James Madison, the primary author of the constitution, proposed 20 amendments to the bill of rights and not the ten we know of today. Madison sent these twenty proposed rights through the House and the Senate and was left with twelve bills of rights. Madison himself took some of it out. These amendments were then sent to the states to be ratified. Virginia was the tenth state out of the fourteenth states to approve 10 out of 12 amendments.
The eighth amendment dates back to the English bill of rights from 1689. It was eventually used in Virginia's Declaration of Independence in 1776. However, years passed by until it was taken before congress. It was ratified on December 15, 1791. This amendment was created simply to protect the rights of those who have done wrong. The eighth amendment protects Americans from three important things: excessive bail and fines, and cruel and unusual punishments.