8th Amendment

Superior Essays
Capital punishment is an ongoing issue in our society. The 8th amendment was annexed into the amendments because many individuals received and endured such harsh punishment,such as getting shot up by a fire squad, hanged, beaten, and much more. The 8th amendment limits such harsh death or crucial penalties of those accused of a crime. However, as our society continues to expand and progress, the law is being taken for granted. Our society learned to adopted new forms of capital punishment to exercise which include lethal shot and the electric chair although it is banned in countless states throughout the country. However, the 8th amendment is not executed and exercised properly, and this has been seen on many occasions. The Constitution …show more content…
Mental illness if difficult to define because it has different effects on the brain whether it affects your intelligence, your thought process, and judgement. However, the courts have a difficult time deciphering between someone who was born with a mental illness and a person who got injured and suffers from an mental illness. In the case of John Ferguson at the age of thirteen he started experiencing the first stages of a mental illness after his father died. He became very depressed and that resulted to him seeing “shadow people.” Ferguson also started delusioning about his father being alive and had conversations with him.As a result Ferguson’s mental health increasing got worse and worse by the time he was twenty-one. He got a gunshot wound to the head which made him hostile and paranoid. When he was admitted to the hospital to receive treatment he was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. He also believed that he was the “Prince of God” and thought he would resurrect and sit on the right hand of God. Ferguson committed a crime which resulted to him receiving a thirty-four year death row sentencing. In Ferguson’s case although he suffered from a mental illness that increasingly progressed he was still given the death penalty. Many individuals have a story that is very similar to the outcome that Ferguson received after committing a crime. These individuals were not exempt from the death penalty although they should have. The courts still insisted and felt that these individuals were liable for their actions. However, in the case of Ferguson he was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, this illness interfered with his thoughts causing him to see things that actually was not

Related Documents

  • Decent Essays

    Issue: Under the Eighth Amendment,…

    • 366 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Summary Of Wilson's Case

    • 364 Words
    • 2 Pages

    On August 9, 2014 police officer Darren Wilson heard a call on his radio about a shoplifting in progress. It was then that Wilson proceeded on with his day only to encounter 18-year-old Michael Brown and 20-year-old Dorian Johnson were walking in the middle of the street; both of which matched the description of the call that had occurred earlier. The events of that day resulted in Brown’s death. This ultimately aggravated the citizens of Ferguson who then protested in effort to stand up for Brown who they believed was killed while surrendering. Considering all the evidence, the grand jury should not have indicted officer Wilson because the witnesses statements and the autopsy are in favor of what Wilson had reported.…

    • 364 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    14th Amendment Dbq

    • 287 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Although this amendment was appended to the Constitution over 100 years ago, it is continually violated. Connecticut was the first state to ratify…

    • 287 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Interpretation of Article 1, Section 8 of the United States Constitution The United States Constitution is a very carefully, well thought out document. It is designed to establish a national government adequately strong and flexible enough to meet the needs of the Republic, yet limited to protect the guaranteed rights of citizens of the United States of America. The Constitution allows a balance between a nation’s need for order and the individual American’s right to freedom. The United States is a government of enumerated powers.…

    • 946 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    It seems as if the justice system ignores the severity of mental health issues and only focuses on the crime that has been committed. In the case of Andre Thomas, the court has only added to this…

    • 1126 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    The 8th amendment stops the federal government from any excessive bail, excessive fines, or cruel and unusual punishment. The 8th amendment also applies to the states and not just the federal government. The 8th amendment was adopted as a part of the Bill of Rights in 1791. Because of this amendment, there are very rules laws for the death penalty for example execution by firing squad is not allowed (this used to be a form of capital punishment where they would kill the victim with firearms). This amendment states that there should not be too many bails out of jail in the country.…

    • 218 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In 1789, James Madison creator and supporter of the 8th amendment and later ratified in 1791 states that excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishment inflicted. A supporter of the 8th amendment and chief recorder of information for Virginia. The founding fathers also supported the 8th amendment. A supporter of the 8th amendment, Goerge Mason, he included the three provisions for the 8th amendment. For example, a person who steals from a convenience store cannot be put in jail and have bond set for one million dollars because the 8th amendment states that no excessive fines imposed.…

    • 315 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    "Cruel and unusual" to refer only to certain barbarous methods of punishment. ”(Harvard Law Review). The 8th amendment was first written 1791. It was an amendment that had the power of eliminating all punishments that were labeled as barbarous or inhuman. Abolished punishments included the whipping post, public execution, and more.…

    • 1016 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Eighth Amendment, which forbids unnecessary fines and bails as well as cruel and unusual punishment, was included in the Constitution because the British’s ways of punishment angered the Founding Fathers of the constitution and they wanted to be sure that the government’s power would not be abused and to prevent any future problems arising in areas of justice. The framers of the constitution, when writing the Eighth Amendment, took into consideration cases where severe punishments such as, branding, strangling or burning would be used. According to Exploring Constitutional Conflicts, “One clue to the expectations of the framers comes from the debates of the First Congress that proposed the Eighth Amendment. On the floor of the House, Representative Livermore complained about the vagueness of the amendment's language: "It is sometimes necessary to hang a man, villains often deserve a whipping, and perhaps having their ears cut off, but are we in the future to be prevented from inflicting those punishments because they are 'cruel'?” .…

    • 845 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Blood oozed out of the fresh wounds of a young boy, creating a pool of blood that soaked the streets of Ferguson, Missouri. Knowing it was his hands that dealt this execution, Officer Darren Wilson stood just as motionless as the boy that was laying face-down in the pool of his blood. Who was the young boy? He could have been any of the 300 million people that lived in the United States, but he was Michael Brown, an 18-year-old boy from Ferguson, Missouri. Like Michael Brown, many American citizens suffer from police officers using unnecessary force, which demonstrates the recurring issue that plagues the United States.…

    • 1569 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    The 8th Amendment

    • 2053 Words
    • 9 Pages

    On December 15, 1791 the 8th amendment was ratified in the United States constitution. Understanding the 8th amendment is fairly simple, “subjecting any citizen to cruel and unusual punishment. Other parts of the amendment prohibit the government from imposing fines or bail which are considered excessive” (The 8th Amendment to the Constitution).…

    • 2053 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Attorneys who deal with Civil Rights and Constitutional issues attend to predicaments concerning the Eighth Amendment every day. Still though, it leads you to think “what exactly is a “cruel and unusual punishment” within the meaning of the Eighth Amendment?” (What…

    • 1491 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    The Eighth Amendment

    • 1716 Words
    • 7 Pages

    As a citizen of the United States of America, each person is entitled to one’s Constitutional Rights. In our Bill of Rights, one can see very important rights that pertain to our criminal justice system making sure that the people of the United States are treated fairly. The eighth amendment is most important when it comes to corrections. Amendment Eight of the Bill of Rights prohibits the federal government from imposing excessive bail, excessive fines, or cruel and unusual punishment. In our history, one can see how there were many examples of how the government violated this amendment.…

    • 1716 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The First Amendment

    • 741 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The government on occasion follows the first amendment, a recent…

    • 741 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    August 9th of 2014, an African American male who was eighteen years of age named Michael Brown was killed in Ferguson, Missouri. It was shown that minutes before his death Mr. Brown was earlier at the local liquor store stealing cigarillos. Mr. Wilson, of 28 years, was the police officer that picked up on the situation as he saw someone to appear as to what the suspect looked like. Once stopping Michael, and him cooperating onto the sidewalk, there was later an altercation between Mr. Brown and Officer Darren Wilson, who is of white heritage. Moments later, Michael Brown was shot and killed by Wilson, after having the officer chase him.…

    • 1011 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays