Analysis Of The Eight Amendment

Introduction The eighth amendment is important for many of the people in the United States. The eighth amendment of the U.S. constitution states,” Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.” In this paper, the only part that will be looked at is the cruel and unusual portion of the eighth amendment. This portion is the most important to the incarcerated within the federal and state prison systems. The eighth amendment deals with a few things with the various prison systems. First off, it deals with how much force can be used by the prison staff. Secondly, it deals with providing acceptable medical care. Lastly, it provides a way that is considered to humanely put to

Which stated that the eight amendment embodies broad concepts of dignity and if causing unnecessary or excessive infliction of pain it is an obligation for the government to provide some form of healthcare. In this case, inmate Gamble received medical attention for a recurring lower back injury. Inmate Gamble filed a complaint when the prison was forcing him to work when he was not recovered from the injury. This case also decided that failure to provide healthcare had to be decided with a deliberate indifference to an inmate’s medical needs. This did not mean the inmate had to be provided the best care it just means that prison officials are only responsible if they were aware and disregard the excessive risk of an unnecessary pain. This would not include accidents unless, again it can be proven that the officials were aware of a substantial risk to that prisoner. Prisoners have a right to be placed in an area that is reasonable safe (Youngberg v Romero, 1982). This was updated in the court case Helling v McKinney (1993). The prisoner was exposed to environmental tobacco smoke because inmate McKinney’s cell mate smoked five packs a day. The court held that the prison officials were showing deliberate indifference to the inmate’s medical needs. Deliberate indifference is a concept

It is also the one with the most protections against it. An inmate cannot be executed for crimes that do not cause the death of someone. This was not always the case but in Gregg v Georgia (1976) the Supreme Court set down a rule that the death penalty can only be used for crimes if it is used for an acceptable goal of the punishment and cannot be grossly out of proportion to the crime. This can be seen again in Coker v Georgia (1977), where the inmate was sentenced to death after raping a woman. Although the inmate Coker raped this woman after committing several felonies, none of them cause the death of anyone. The court used the ruling from Gregg v Georgia (1976) to rule that the sentence of death was not proportional to the crime of rape. The death penalty has an “evolving standard of decency” that changes with how society changes (Trop v Dulles, 1957). The Supreme Court tackled this in the case Ford vs Wainwright (1986). Ford was convicted of murder but several years later, he developed mental issues where he could not understand why he was being executed. The court said that the eighth amendment; “prohibits the state from inflicting the penalty of death upon a prisoner who is insane.” This was reiterated in Atkins v Virginia (2002) and Roper v Simmons (2004). These cases summarize the court’s decision that if an inmate cannot understand why they are being executed