8th amendment bail & cruel and unusual punishment
TRANSCRIPT
8TH AMENDMENT
BAIL & CRUEL AND UNUSUAL
PUNISHMENT
Purposes of Bail Clause
• Prevents a court from setting bail so high a person can’t obtain it
Cruel and Unusual Punishment
• Determined by two guidelines
Cruel and Unusual Punishment
• 1. Can’t involve the unneces-sary and wanton infliction of pain: torture such as the follow-ing but not limited to - dragging, disemboweling, beheading, dissecting, burning alive
Cruel and Unusual Punishment
• 2. Punishment can’t be out of proportion to the crime: example: exp: person got life for $100 bad check after seven previous felonies (Solem v. Helm)
Death Penalty
• Outlawed in U.S. in 1972 in Furman v. GA by 5-4
• problem: application
Furman: Reasons against
• 1. Primarily against minorities
• 2. Used disproportionately against blacks, poor, unpopular
• 3. Blacks more likely to receive death penalty for rape
Furman: Reasons against
• 4. Wealthy rarely executed
• 5. Denies a person humanity
• 6. Unequally applied
• 7. Morally wrong
• 8. Most people opposed to it
Furman: Reasons against
• 9. Does not deter crime
• 10. Not more retributive than life in prison
• 11. An innocent person may be wrongly executed
Furman: Arguments for
• 1. Historical use
• 2. Society not opposed to it
• 3. Rare imposition shows discretion in application
• 4. Not opposed by Founding Fathers
Furman: Arguments for
• 5. Decision should be by legislatures of states not court
• 6. Discrimination less likely today in application
• 7. Proper retribution
• 8. Deters at least some people
Results
• 1. Limited to homicide
• 2. Penalty phase to trials
Capital Punishment
• States without capital punish-ment: AK, ME, MN, VT, HI, MA, ND, WV, IA, MI, RI, WI, AND DC
• States with it: rest plus U.S. and military
Death Row Inmates
Total #: 3549
Females: 48
States with d.p. no executions
• CT, KS, NH, NJ, NM, NY( law took effect on 01 Sept 95), OH, SD, TN, U.S. GOV’T, U.S. MILITARY
14th Amendment
• DUE PROCESS OF LAW
• FAIRNESS IN THE LEGAL SYSTEM
• POSSIBLY MOST WIDELY USED IN THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM