Constitutional Amendment Pros And Cons

The Eighth Amendment protects the right of prisoners before they are tried and after they are convicted. It also bars excessive fines and “cruel and unusual” punishments. In 1641, the Massachusetts Body of Liberties standards allowed the death penalty for blasphemy and had physical punishments such as cutting off ears and branding with a hot iron. But now the death penalty is no longer allowed in some states because its defined as “evolving standards of decency” and most are extremely cruel and the cost is expensive. The Eighth Amendment prohibits mentally ill persons to “cruel and unusual” punishments. The Supreme Court case in 2005 of Roper v. Simmons is about Christopher Simmons and he was sentenced to death in 1993, when he was only 17.

The Eighth Amendment of the United States Constitution protects us to not be putted into cruel and unusual punishments, but when it comes to the death penalty, things become more complicated. In my personal opinion, I believe the absolute interpretation of the 8th Amendment and that the death penalty undoubtedly violates the 8th Amendment. Looking at the case of “Furman v. Georgia (1972)”, the Court invalidated death penalty laws in the end because the justices considered the punishment of the death penalty was too cruel and unusual to the Furman’ sin, accidentally killing people, and disproportionately using the death penalty would result in more serious problems to the poor and minorities. This decision fully reflected the reliability of

The eighth Amendment states that the government is prohibited from cruel and unusual punishment. The death penalty is a complete violation of this amendment. Every one, guilty or innocent has the right to live freely, and the government taking away this simplicity of rights, is unconstitutional.

The Eighth Amendment, ratified in 1791, and it had three clauses. The clauses are Cruel and Unusual Punishment, Excessive Fines, and Excessive bail. The Cruel and Unusual Punishment means that the state and federal government restrict how extreme the punishment is to a person who has done a crime. This clause is made so that the people that are accused are not tortured and killed cruelly. The Excessive Fines restrict the state and federal government the amount of money a person fined for a crime. This clause created was so that the government cannot take a lot of your money away. The Excessive bail means that courts can’t give a tremendous amount of bond to a person who has broken the law. This clause created so that the judge and jury cannot already make their decision before the case even begins. This is why the saying “an accused is presumed innocent until found guilty” is established.

The 55 delegates sitting down in the hot, steamy and sticky room debating about what to add extra rules or change the Articles of Confederation. For about 4 months, the people debated about how the government should take care of the problems, not giving the states more power than needed, talking about compromises and many more. On September 17, 1787, the constitution was sent to Congress for review. Then it was sent to the states for ratification. It took about two years for the Constitution for ratification. There were obstacles to be avoided too. The Federalist had to face Anti-Federalist, people who opposed the ratification of the Constitution. They believed that because they felt as though it gave too much power to the national government.

When talking about the First Amendment, the law protects us from freedom of speech and free exercise of religion and it also stops Congress from making any new law to prohibit free speech and free exercise. The case involving a Christian printer who refused to print gay pride T-shirts. The printer declined the printing job for T-shirts promoting a gay pride festival on religious grounds, but he did offer the customer to help them find other local printers to do the work for the same price. Based on the information that was provided the printer had a history of rejecting other orders for shirts promoting sexually explicit material/actions and violence.

The Fourteenth Amendment has, overall, been a great incorporation into the Constitution through its equal protection clause, due process clause, and other specific feature such as the ability to be show the presence of the separate but equal mindset invested amongst individuals in the Court case of Plessy v. Ferguson, the implementation of said mindset in the decision of the Brown v. The Board of Education Supreme Court case, the usage of the due process clause in the 2000 presidential election between Republican George W. Bush and Democrat Al Gore, and both equal protection clause and de process clause in the more recent case of obergefell v. hodges.

The idea of “civil death” was originally designed by the Greeks and Romans to deter would be felons from committing crimes, if the repercussions were severe enough. However, the influence of Christianity in the founding of America implemented the idea of forgiveness if one were to offer a sort of penance and redemption of wrongs committed.

The 14th amendment guarantees that states cannot “deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.” This amendment was used to justify the legality of abortion in arguably the most important Supreme Court case of our time, Roe v. Wade. The court used this to uphold the right of a woman to have an abortion. The gravity of this decision makes the 14th amendment the most important in today’s society.

The Second Amendment to the U.S Constitution is fiercely debated and interpreted differently among American citizens and argued with between the Legislative and Judicial branches of our government. “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed,” (Brooks). Because of the Second Amendment, citizens have the right to possess firearms and use them for protection. When researching the origin of the Second Amendment, its modern applications, and its relevance in today’s society, one can determine the Second Amendment’s current implications on today’s society.

Although the U. S. S. Constitution was originally built as a defense against pirates during the Barbary War, it is most famous for the three major battles that it won during the War of 1812. The first of these battles, which was fought against the British H. M. S. Guerriere, was where the Constitution earned the nickname “Old Ironsides.” The second battle was against the H. M. S. Java, a merchant ship bound for India. In the third battle, the Constitution contended with both the H. M. S. Cyane and the H. M. S Levant. All of these victories are owed, at least in part, to the ingenious manner in which Old Ironsides was built. The building style of the U. S. S. Constitution gave it significant advantages over the English frigates during the War of 1812 that enabled it to emerge victorious from decisive naval battles against such ships as the H. M. S. Guerriere and H. M. S. Java.

The Eighth Amendment of the Bill of Rights prevents the government from excessively punishing and fining. It’s also used to prevent inhumane and severe punishments to the convicted. Basically, they can’t cut off your fingers if you steal something; and if you’re given the death penalty, it’s one of a few ‘humane’ methods, things and nothing ‘unique.’ This could prevent severe, horrific abuse in many cases.

The First Amendment was created in a way, to ensure that all those who seek freedom, in speech, press, religion, and assembling can do so. However, recently freedom of religion has not been fully secured. For instance, there has been bans against immigrants sorely because of their religion stereotype. Something that is contradictory to the First Amendment, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion...". The First Amendment should be able to encourage each and every religious freedom, because people no longer feel safe about expressing their religion as the United States government have shown favoritism towards other certain religions. And since numbers are rising in certain religions, diversity should be accepted and shown throughout the U.S. and by the government.

The Second Amendment states: A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed. Even though this amendment has been around for hundreds of years, people still argue over what it means and if it should still apply today. The two extreme sides of this argument as stated in Henry Winkler’s book are the Gun Nuts and the Gun Grabbers (Winkler 15,45). One side argues that there should not be any guns at all, and the other side argues that everyone should have a gun. This discussion has been around for decades, and I believe that it is not going away anytime soon. There are a few arguments as to why I believe that the government shall not and cannot remove guns from American citizens. First, I believe that I have a constitutional right to own firearms due to the second amendment. Secondly, everyone should not be punished for the actions of a few lawless individuals. Thirdly, the removal of firearms would be costly, hard to enforce and unlikely to succeed, and finally, gun control laws are racially motivated. Through the use of what I believe combined with historical examples, my goal is to persuade a “Gun Grabber” on why the government cannot take away my guns.

Do you want more freedom? Will you take sides with Publius or Brutus? There will be a new constitution if you choose Publius, our Federal government will be powerful enough to conserve our freedom, promote our trade and protect our properties! This is why the new Constitution is the best idea! The AOC does not give enough power.