The eighth amendment states that "excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fine's imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted" (page 101). This amendment can be a little misleading and that may cause problems. This amendment does not say exactly how much is an excessive bail. This can cause problems with people saying that $100,000 bail is excessive. I feel like the amendment should directly explain how much is too much. However, the bail amount should not be the same for all crimes committed. Bringing out a gun in a public place should have a much higher bail than if someone did not pay all of their parking tickets. I also live in Yadkin County, and I feel like the magistrates should take a certification class, but I also
The 8th amendment states, “ Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.” Which brings me to the case of Thompson vs. Oklahoma. The debate is on whether or not capital punishment should be given to minors. On one hand, some may argue that Thompson should have been charged with capital punishment because “his acts were heinous and cruel” (Pearson Prentice Hall: n.d.). On the other hand, others such as Oklahoma argue that it is a violation of the 8th amendment under “cruel and unusual punishment.” This creates the argument of Thompson vs. Oklahoma.
The Eight Amendment entails that every penalty inflicted by the government be in proportion with the crime entrusted by the defendant. Penalties that are unreasonably inconsiderate will be turned over on petition. For instance, punishments that have been turned over for being irrational are two Georgia (Coker v. Georgia, and Eberheart v. Georgia) decrees that ordered the death penalty for rape and kidnapping. According to the Supreme Court, the Eighth Amendment prohibits some penalties completely, and prohibits some other penalties that are extreme when evaluated to the offense, or to the capability of the performer. The U.S. Supreme Court interpretation of the
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 8th amendment says that excessive bail shall not be required, or excessive fines, or cruel and unusual punishment.
The first point to evaluate when looking at the Eighth Amendment is its the rich history. In the 1700’s, years before the Bill of Rights was created, judges would issue unfair punishments to those convicted if the judge favored the plaintiff or prosecutor. Furthermore, there was one man, Titus Oates, that would lie to the judge about his crimes; he would, in turn, blame the crime on other people. He was responsible for killing thirty-five people and managed to avoid punishment through his lies. Oates not only lied but exaggerated causing those that had been wrongly accused to suffer horribly cruel punishment. “His testimony was responsible for the execution of some 35 persons, but, as the frenzy subsided, inconsistencies were discovered in his story.” (Editors 1). These inconsistencies ultimately lead to Oates’s execution. Another example of legal injustice that
The Eighth Amendment was tested through many Supreme Court and there were some very significant ones such as the Miller v. Alabama. The no cruel or unusual aspect of the Eighth Amendment gives protection of undeserving or unreasonable punishment to a citizen that commits a crime. As Supreme Court cases regarding the Eighth Amendment open and closed the meaning of no cruel or unusual punishment changed; the sentencing of death is not considered cruel and/or unusual to a suspect that is mentally insane this aspect of the Eighth Amendment is important to the wrongfully accused people that are sentenced something for a crime that they did not commit. A significant
False, The Supreme Court has held that the Excessive Bail Clause of the Eight Amendment applies to state as well as to federal criminal prosecutions.
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.
In my opinion, the 8th amendment is important because this amendment gives people the right against excessive bail, fines, or cruel and unusual punishment. No citizen of the United States should be subjected to cruel or insane punishment, and they shouldn 't have to pay a bail amount that is too excessive for the crime. This Amendment was added to the Bill of Rights to ensure greater stability and was a compromise between the legislature election in the original non-party elections and the new president. The Amendment’s Bail Clause is a result of injustices perpetrated in England, were judges often abused their power in determining whether bail should be allowed to suspects. After a number of unsuccessful attempts at reforming the law, the English Bill of Rights in 1689 specifically outlawed excessive bail. The U.S. supreme court 's held in 1987 that the eighth Amendment 's Bail Clause had only one meaning that bail conditions, when compared with the magnitude of
Amendment 8 is crucial in the nation today because it protects people from excessive bail fees. The highest bail ever set for a person was in 2003 for Robert Durst. He murdered his neighbor and was initially charged with $1 billion dollars for being recognized as a “flight risk”. However, he later tampered with the evidence and bond jumping. The judge then added an additional $2 billion for these decisions. The judges realized that this was much too large an amount of money for his crimes, so they set it back to about $150,000, which is the average normal amount for the crimes he committed. (CNN.com) Bail
The Eighth Amendment states “Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted” (The Eighth Amendment 231).When the Eighth amendment was written, there was an obvious concern for the mistreatment of criminals by the judicial system. The problem that arose was not the inability of the Supreme Court to understand the meaning between the words, but the inability to agree with what constitutes “Cruel and Unusual”. What one Justice considered not enough, another might feel that the punishment was too severe. McWilliams writes, “Even Justice Black, advocate for the proposition “that there are ‘absolutes’ in our Bill of Rights, and that they were put there on purpose by men who knew what
In the Bill of rights it talks about the 1st amendment. The 1st amendment says “...or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press…” which means that we have the right to say what we want and we don’t have to talk to the press. This impacts our lives today by not being limited on what we can or can't say. The 3rd amendment says that no soldier can come into our homes without our approval. This impacts U.S. today by giving us more freedom and privacy. In the 8th amendment it talks about how “ Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted”. What that is saying is high amounts of bail aren’t aloud, if it's over a certain amount you can’t
Today our world is filled with criminals. These criminals commit their crimes, and then get caught by law enforcement agencies. They get detained, processed, and see a judge. “Guilty! I sentence you to prison for x amount of years”. After a judge says that phrase to an offender, at that very moment you end up having limited rights. After one is convicted of a crime/ offense, one’s constitutional rights are taken away. One of the most controversial amendments that aren’t applied to prisoners is the fourth Amendment of the U.S. constitution.The fourth amendment to the United States
Amendment eight is the most interesting amendment because of its wording , has three corresponding laws inside it , and protects the people living in the U.S. Because of its wording, the eighth amendment is the most interesting amendment. The beginning of this amendment states “excessive bail shall not be required…” (Amendment Eight). The word excessive means “going beyond what is fair, proper, or normal.”
The 8th Amendment has protected us against many unusual punishments and can be seen in Waters-Pierce Oil Co. VS Texas, Weems VS the United States, and Gregg Vs Georgia. In the first case, a company was sentenced to a penalty of revocation and a fine of over $1.6 million, violating the amendments. This case settled a general standard for judging whether the fine was unusual or excessive. The next case, Paula Weems was punished with 15 years of hard labor prison, loss of all political rights in prison, permanent surveillance after release and a fine of 4000 pesetas. The effect of the 8th amendment helped this case to establish the “Principle of proportionality” when the punishment was being handed down. In the third case, Troy Gregg was found