Pretrial Dention When a crime is allegedly committed an individual can be taken into custody, after the arraignment which is the formal reading of a criminal complaint in the presence of the defandant to inform the defendant of the charges against him or her. In response to arraignment, the accused criminal is then excepted to enter a plea. Then the accused may not be able to post bail/bond or even be denied realase. This indvidual must stay in jail until his court hearing, the time the person waits in jail is called pretrial detention. Today throughout the world pretrial detention has caused many issues in which this paper will look further into. Some of the issues that will be explored in this paper are how pretrial detention is …show more content…
Out of 38,000 cases last year only 376 people got released on bond. Many offenders even the ones that just get convicted of misdemeanors can not afford to post bond which means they end up in pretrial detention until their trial. This is another reason to why the prisons are becoming so full with allegedly convicted criminals in pretrial detention. The eighth amendment states excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted, yet what exactly is cruel or unusual punishment? Can pretrial detention be considered cruel and unusual punishment considering the alleged criminal may be innocent and spend months to years in pretrial detention for something they may have never committed. Even criminals in pretrial detention who could have convicted a minor crime may not deserve to wait in pretrial detention as long as they do. Although, the alleged criminals in pretrial detention are not being physically punished some defiantly are being mentally punished. However, the justice system does not think about how the alleged criminal feels neither does most of society to them its better to keep someone who may or may not be guilty in pretrial detention then to have them on the streets. However, to the alleged criminal especially the innocent ones this is defiantly cruel and unusual punishment why should they have to be locked up in a little room, and loose months to years on their lives because the United States
The Eight Amendment to the U.S. Constitution “Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishment inflicted”, proposed on 9/25/1789 and approved on 12/15/1791. The cruel and unusual punishment confines the harshness of penalties that state and federal governments may inflict upon ones who have been condemned of a criminal offense. The excessive fines phrase restricts the amount that state and federal governments may possibly fine an individual for a specific offense. The excessive bail phrase limits legal judgment in setting bail for the discharge of persons indicted of an illegal action during the time following their capture but prior to their trial.
The massive over-use of pre-trial detention around the world and its excessively prolonged duration represent an alarming but still overlooked human rights abuse undermining the right to presumption of innocence, the right to liberty and security and the right to fair trial and fostering further violations. The need for addressing such a practice should include a specific attention to corruption and poor rates of integrity within the institutional sectors playing a relevant role in the pre-trial stage, namely the law enforcement forces and the judiciary.
In the United States Constitution, the 8th Amendment prohibits the use and practices of cruel and unusual punishment. What exactly is considered to be cruel and unusual punishment? This question is a hot topic among America's many different current controversies. Many people are saying that the use of capital punishment (to be sentenced to death as a penalty in the eyes of the law [a capital crime]. An execution [capital punishment]) is a direct violation of the 8th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States (Capital Punishment). They say there should be another way to deal with these criminals other than having them executed. The purpose of this paper is to give a brief history of the death penalty
In the United States Constitution, the Eighth Amendment prohibits the use and practices of cruel and unusual punishment. What exactly is considered to be cruel and unusual punishment? This question is a hot topic among America 's many different current controversies. Many people are saying that the use of capital punishment to be sentenced to death as a penalty in the eyes of the law. An execution or capital punishment is a direct violation of the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. (84)
The eighth amendment helps letting americans not have to go through unusual and cruel punishments. “It is not just criminal sentences themselves that are subject to the cruel and unusual test; the Eighth Amendment’s cruel and unusual provision has been used to challenge prison conditions such as extremely unsanitary cells, overcrowding, insufficient medical care and deliberate failure by officials to protect inmates from one another,” (“Eighth Amendment,” Annenberg Classroom). This site explains and breaks down the eighth amendment. It becomes apparent that this amendment helps protect the people from usual and cruel punishments. There are specific examples to a cruel and unusual punishments. “Cruel and unusual punishment includes torture, deliberately degrading punishment, or punishment that is too severe for the crime committed,” (Dictionary.com). This is a basic understanding for how we can make sure to stay away from these types of punishments. One of the biggest oppositions or conflicts with the eighth amendment there is is the death penalty. The question that comes from it is whether or not the death penalty can be considered a cruel and unusual punishment. “Eighth
The Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution limits the punishments that may be imposed by the government on American citizens. These limits are compulsory among the states by way of the Fourteenth Amendment. The English Bill of Rights of 1689 expressed concern with arbitrary and disproportionate sanctions, giving way to the Founders inclusion of the prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment. To explore the Eighth Amendment it is important to consider constitutionally accepted punishments, the ever-evolving practice of capital punishment, and eighth amendment protection inside prison walls.
The United States has the biggest imprisonment rate on the planet, and paying a high cost for it. Detainment strength finished in the mid-1970s when the jail populace expanded from 300,000 to 1.6million detainees, and the imprisonment rate from 100 for each 100,000 to more than 500 for every 100,000. Nonetheless, there is by all accounts little relationship between the wrongdoing rate and the imprisonment rate (Clear et al., 2013).
The federal, state, and local governments have facilities to confine people. Individuals awaiting trial, being held pending citations for non-custodial offenses, and those convicted of misdemeanors (crimes which carry a
Several states across the Country have enacted or attempted to enact legislation which can enable detention of a prisoner past his/her release date. This type of legislation’s general purpose is to provide a mechanism whereby prisoners who, if released pose an unacceptable risk of
The Eighth Amendment of the United States Constitution says, “Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.” The fundamental idea of torture is to inflict mental or physical pain onto a suspect to coerce them into revealing information we desire. This tactic is illegal because it violates the Constitution, and in addition, it violates international agreements that our nation has committed itself to. The general provisions of the Geneva Conference of 1949 prevent the use of torture in warfare; the document specifically outlaws “Outrages upon personal dignity, in particular humiliating or degrading treatment…” By violating these laws, particularly the Constitution, our nation
The eighth amendment states “Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.” (Amendment eight). This amendment first states that an excessive bail shall not be required. Excessive means going beyond what is fair. “bail provides an incentive for a defendant to remain in the area and participate in the trial.”
In discussion of the 8th amendment the topic that will be covered is the history before the amendment has been attached to the Bill of Rights, the interpretations of the amendment, and the amendment in affecting this generation today. This amendment officially states in the Constitution, “Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted” (CRS/LII Annotated Constitution Eighth Amendment). This emendation is about the government mandating that punishments are not allowed when they are cruel or unusual. “…; but it is safe to affirm that punishments of torture [such as drawing and quartering, emboweling alive, beheading, public dissecting, and burning alive], and all the others in the
Although the 8th Amendment protects against cruel and unusual punishment , the 8th Amendment does not mention prohibitions against treatment as well as punishments. You would be bound to then think that people would also will say that the 8th Amendment does not protect the treatment of prisoners, because the 8th Amendment does not specifically include treatment with punishments as constitutional protection. Even though the Amendment does not specifically say that it shall protect the prisoners; is it not still cruel and unusual punishment! Wisdom would have it that cruel, inhumane, or degrading treatment means such treatment prohibited by the 5th, 8th, and 14th
The 8th amendment prohibits any type of punishment that is cruel or unusual in our correctional system. For example, in prison, a guard cannot cut an inmate's ear off or subjugate him/her to a whipping for finding contraband in their bunk.
The federal prison system has become an increasingly populated place. With an approximate 91% conviction rate in the federal criminal system,1 with 97% of all cases entering a plea of guilty prior to trial,2 and over 90% of those convictions resulting in a sentence of incarceration,3 imprisonments are a nearly unavoidable part of a criminal defendant ‘s experience in the federal system. According to statistics by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, the law enforcement agency responsible