Essay on "8th Constitutional Amendment Eighth"

Essay 5 pages (1625 words) Sources: 4 Style: APA

[EXCERPT] . . . .

8th Constitutional Amendment

Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution

Even in the contemporary world, one of the most fundamental issues before the Supreme Court involves the meaning and interpretation of the Eightn Amendment to the United States Constitution. One of the seminal issues is whether there exists a principled and legitimate method of interpreting the section other than relying soley on the moral judgment of a majority of the Court, in effect, reflecting the majority of American Society. Thus, if a societal majority finds a punishment morally acceptable, does that prevent the Court from invalidating that punishment? Or, in fact, is there a legitimate basis for the Court to deviate, at least under certain circumstances, from the greater majority of societies opinions. In recent years, the Court has addressed these fundamental issues surrounding the 8th Amendment. For instance, the Court has debated and challenged the idea of what constitutes "cruel and unusual," certainly something that is on a sliding moral and societal scale. Second, in the 1970s, opposition to the death penalty within society was at its all-time high. Yet, in the Furman decision, the majority of the justices voted that, at the time, Furman violated the Eight Amendment. That this particular clause is controversial and arguable is non-debatable. That it helps frame and form a template of the way society and law interact is important as well. This essay, then, will describe the 8th Amendment, give an historical background, and discuss some of the important ways that the Court has used the 8th Amendment to influence the history of contemporary legal thought (See: Bodenhamer and Ely, 1993, 140-8).

1. "Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted."

2. The 8th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is part of the U.S. Bill of Rights, prohibiting the Federal Government from imposing excessive bail, excessive fines, and cruel and unusual punishment. These phrases were actually taken from the 1689 English Bill of Rights. The "excessive bail' and "excessive fines" clauses were based on English Common law, and typically means an amount of bail ordered that is far higher than necessary to assure their appearance in Court, particularly in relation to minor crimes (Amar, 2000).

3. The Amendment was adopted as part of the Bill of Rights in 1791, and is almost identical to the English Bill of Right's Phrasing, "as their ancestors in like case have usually done… that excessive bail ought not to be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted"(English Bill of Rights).

4. "Cruel and unusual punishment," was in response to historical English Sheriff's having the power at the local level to utilize torture and excessive punishment that clearly did not fit the crime. A famous example, but not English, was chronicled by Victor Hugo in Les Miserables, in which an individual is sentenced to hard labor for decades based on the theft of a loaf of bread. According to the U.S. Supreme Court, though, the 8th Amendment forbids some punishments completely, and forbids others that are excessive when compared to the crime, or compared to the mental competence of the perpetrator (Cusac, 2009). This is to protect the individual from receiving a particularly harsh punishment simply due to extenuating facts, the perpetrator's ethnicity, gender, popularity, or other individual measures that are not germane to the crime.

5. U.S. Supreme Court and interpretation of 8th Amendment -- In 1978 the Court ruled (Wilkerson v Utah) that public dissecting, burning alive, disemboweling, or drawing and quartering would indeed constitute cruel and unusual in any crime, based on the sensibilities of modern society. Since 1910 in Weems v United States, the Court has gradually mitigated the idea of how the term "cruel and unusual punishment" is defined and executed in the United States. In this case, judicial review was used to overturn a criminal case. However, it was not until 1962, in Robinson v California that the Court summarily indicated that the "cruel and unusual punishment" clause applied to the states, despite a 1947 assumption to that fact, (Louisiana ex rel. v. Resweber). In 1972, however, writing for the majority opinion, Justice Brennan established four principles to determine whether a punishment was "cruel and unusual" (Furman v. Georgia).

6. Case #1 -- Weems v. United States of America. (U.S. 217, 349, 1910).

Facts: Paul Weems was a Coast Guard Officer charged in the Philippine courts with falsifying an official document for the purposes of defrauding the government. He was convicted and sentences to 15 years prison, and a fine of 4,000 pesos. Weems filed a writ of error with the U.S. Supreme Court, claiming that the charges against him were erroneous, and his conviction should be overturned.

Issues: (1) Were there legal errors in Weems' case? Were there in fact, factual errors that, taken into consideration, might have substantially changed the verdict? (2) The record failed to demonstrate that Weems was in Court when tried. (3) A 15-year sentence constituted "cruel and unusual" punishment for the crime in question.

Holding: (1) No errors were found based on Philippine procedural rules. (2-3). The Court found that 15-years hard labor was too severe, and that even the most modest punishment for this crime was "repugnant" to the Bill of Rights.

Reasoning: Since there was no other applicable law in which Weems could be sentenced, the judgement must be reversed and the suit dismissed entirely (http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/cgi-bin/getcase.pl?court=U.S.&vol=217&invol=349).

7. Case #2 -- Robinson v. California. (370 U.S. 660, 1962).

Facts: Lawrence Robinson was stopped by a California Traffic Officer who noticed he had tracks on his arms. The Officer claimed Robinson admitted he used narcotics, and was arrested, convicted, and sentenced to serve 90-days imprisonment for "being addicted to the use of narcotics."

Issues: Was the punishment fit for the crime?

Holding: The Court ruled that California law violated the cruel and unusual punishment law. However, Lawrence Robinson had already died, and California requested the case be mooted. The Court declined, and the ruling has since been used in other cases.

Reasoning: Use of narcotics and addiction may be illegal, but it is also an illness. California was attempting to punish people based on this illness, rather than a specific act (e.g. destructive behavior, etc.). While 90-days in prison was neither "cruel nor unusual" it was, to the Court, out of proportion to the offense. The Court wrote, by way of analogy, "Even one day in prison would be a cruel and unusual punishment for the crime of having a common cold (http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/historics/USSC_CR_0370_0660_ZS.html).

8. Case #3 -- Furman v. Georgia. (408 U.S. 238, 1972).

Facts: William Furman indicated that while he was trying to escape a bungled burglary, his gun discharged and killed his intended victim. His statements were contradictory, but he was tried for murder and sentenced to death.

Issues: Was the death penalty cruel and unusual in the circumstances of this case.

Holding: 5-4 decision, quite controversial. The Court found that in this case the death penalty violated the Constitution. The majority found that the problem is that it is imposed in an arbitrary manner, and that States should rethink their statues to assure equality in sentencing.

Reasoning: Justice Brennan wrote, "There are, then, four principles by which we may determine whether a particular punishment is 'cruel and unusual'."

The "essential predicate" is "that a punishment must not by its severity be degrading to human dignity," especially torture.

"A severe punishment that is obviously inflicted in wholly arbitrary fashion."

"A severe punishment that is clearly and totally rejected throughout society."

"A severe punishment that is patently unnecessary."

Continuing, he wrote that he expected that no state would pass a law obviously violating any one of these principles, so court decisions regarding the Eighth Amendment would involve a "cumulative" analysis of the… READ MORE

How to Reference "8th Constitutional Amendment Eighth" Essay in a Bibliography

Related Essays:

Punishment Then Now and What's Equity Got to Do With it Amendment Term Paper

Public Administration

Eighth Amendment

The Eighth Amendment of the United States Constitution, which is included in the U.S. Bill of Rights, forbids excessive bail or fines, as well as cruel… read more

Term Paper 6 pages (2456 words) Sources: 6 Topic: Crime / Police / Criminal Justice

---

Lethal Injection Is Constitutional as it Applies to the 8th Amendment Cruel and Unusual Punishment Term Paper

Lethal Injection Is Legal Under the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution

Death by lethal injection is what some people perceive as a response to the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution… read more

Term Paper 6 pages (2105 words) Sources: 6 Topic: Crime / Police / Criminal Justice

---

US Supreme Court Case Term Paper

Taylor v. Crawford

Case Citation: Taylor v. Crawford, 487 F.3d 1072 (2007) (United States Court of Appeals, 8th Circuit)

Appellants: Larry Crawford, Director, Missouri Department of Corrections; James D. Purkett,… read more

Term Paper 4 pages (1225 words) Sources: 1 Style: APA Topic: Law / Legal / Jurisprudence

---

Death Penalty and Mental Illness Term Paper

Death Penalty and Mental Illness

It is impossible to say, with any real degree of accuracy, what percentage of people on death row is mentally ill. There are several reasons… read more

Term Paper 7 pages (2519 words) Sources: 1+ Style: APA Topic: Crime / Police / Criminal Justice

---

Panetti v. Quarterman Term Paper

Panetti v. Quarterman

Title and Citation

Panetti, Scott v. Quarterman, Nathaniel, Director, Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Correctional Institutions Division

Certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the… read more

Term Paper 5 pages (1424 words) Sources: 4 Style: MLA Topic: Crime / Police / Criminal Justice

---

View 100+ more related papers  >>