The Eighth Amendment And The Fifth Amendment

In 1966, Gary Duncan was charged in Louisiana with simple battery, a misdemeanor punishable by up to two years in prison and a three hundred dollar fine. Duncan requested a jury trial, but at the time, Louisiana granted jury trials only to cases punishable by execution or imprisonment at hard labor, and the Sixth Amendment right to a jury trial had not yet been incorporated against the states. Duncan’s request was denied. He was convicted after a bench trial and sentenced to sixty days in prison and a ten-dollar fine. Duncan appealed to the Louisiana Supreme Court, but it declined to hear the case. Duncan then petitioned the United States Supreme Court for review, asserting that the Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments guaranteed his right to a jury trial.

The four basic components of the Fifth Amendment include: double jeopardy, due process, the right to be heard by a jury and safeguards against self-incrimination. Double jeopardy is when the individual can only be tried for a crime once. In the event that they are acquitted and new information surfaces, they cannot be retried again for the same crime. Instead, new charges would have to be filed showing the individual violated another area of the law. (Sundahl, 2011)

The Fifth Amendment has five sections or clauses. Clause number one – The right to a Grand Jury Hearing. The Grand Jury decides whether to indict a person. This is not a trial. The exception to this clause is, land or naval forces in service during time of war or public danger. Article 1 Section 8 gives the authority for the use of Military Courts for the Armed Forces. This denies military personnel the same rights as civilians.

The sixth amendment states, “In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and District wherein the crime shall have been committed, which District shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel or his defence.” ("The Bill of Rights and Amendments 11-27.") This amendment means that anyone who is accused of a crime has the right to a quick and public trial. The trial of the accused must be held by an unbiased jury in the area where the crime supposedly

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

America is built on the foundation of society being run and well-flowing around the three values the Republic of the United States hold most dear to: equality, freedom, and justice. The rights of the accused is an important factor in maximizing justice. Amendments 4-8 in the Bill of Rights specifically detail how criminal law should be dealt with, and how justice can be ensured every step of the way. The Fifth and Sixth Amendments contain two systems that go hand in hand with one another, a due process and a trial by jury for all citizens. Amendments 4-8, a Due Process, and a Trial by Jury are essential for establishing the rights of the accused and their absence would be detrimental to the effectiveness of the American criminal justice system.

The fourth, fifth, and sixth amendments regards the rights individuals have when coming in contact or in custody with police officers. The fourth amendment is the right of search and seizure. A search is when a police officer goes into a space where the individual bevies they have privacy. A seizure is when a police officer says or does something that an individual would suspect that they are not free to leave police officer contact. The fifth amendment is the right to remain silent and the right to council. The right to remain silent and council only pertain when an individual is in arrest custody. And states "no person shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process." The sixth

Military people can go to trial without the grand jury decision, it is a case when military person commits a crime during a war or a national emergency.

The Sixth Amendment provides that “In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a(n) speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury.

The famous Founding Fathers of the United States created critical documents to protect the citizens of the country they were establishing. These documents included the Declaration of Independence and Bill of Rights. The latter, the Bill of Rights, ensures certain rights to all citizens, and the Eighth Amendment in particular, protects citizens against cruel or unusual punishments for breaking the law. When analyzing the protection under the Eighth Amendment one must also look at all the aspects of the law including: the history of the law, the modern uses and abuses of the law, and the law’s current effectiveness.

According to the United States Constitution and the Bill of Rights, the Fourth Amendment can be best defined as an amendment providing the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized (Fourth, 2012). In general terms, the Fourth Amendment protects from illegal searches and seizures performed by governmental agents. In 1763, William Pitt stated that under any circumstance or living condition, whether the roof was falling in or the walls allowed wind through, even the King of England was not allowed entrance into ones home (History, 2016).

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 U.S. Constitutional Rights are laws that guarantee the basic rights for the citizens.There are twenty-seven Constitutional Amendments in total, but 10 of them represent The Bill of Rights. The Bill of Rights ensures the basic individual protections such as freedom of speech and religion. The Bill of Rights became part of the Constitution in December 15, 1791 by George Mason.

The 8th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States prohibits cruel and unusual punishment, as well as the setting of excessive bail or the imposition of excessive fines. However, it has also been deemed unconstitutional by the Supreme Court of the United States (according to the Eighth Amendment)to inflict physical damage on students in a school environment for the purpose of discipline in most circumstances.      The 8th Amendment stipulates that bail shall not be excessive. This is unclear as to whether or not there is a constitutional right to bail, or only prohibits excessive bail, if it is to be granted.

The Fifth Amendment in US constitution was proposed by Congressman James Madison on June 8, 1789 and was passed on September 25, 1789. It was later ratified by Congress on December 15, 1791 as “Bill of Rights”. It provides a number of rights which are relevant to both Civil and Criminal legal proceedings. In Criminal cases, it provides a right to Grand Jury. It forbids “double jeopardy” and also protects against self-incrimination. In Civil cases, it requires the “due process of law” to be part of proceedings which denies a citizen “life, liberty or property”. At the same time it requires government to