Cruel and unusual punishment

Cruel and unusual punishment is, by definition, “such punishment as would amount to torture or barbarity, any cruel and degrading punishment … any fine, penalty, confinement, or treatment that is so disproportionate to the offense as to shock the moral sense of the community” (Cruel and Unusual Punishment). The number of prisoners in the United States has climbed in 2016 to a staggering 2.2 million, up from 200,000 in 1972. A full 36 percent of those incarcerated are behind bars for nonviolent offenses. Such numbers alone should shock the moral sense, but to fully understand the nature of cruel and unusual punishment for nonviolent crimes, we must define such crimes, consider the sentences for such crimes and the injustices faced by the prisoner…

Constitution protects citizens against the harm of “cruel and unusual” punishment sentences. For example, the practice of corporal or bodily punishment of criminals is cruel and unusual. Sentences such as the death penalty, or death by fire-squad are specific kinds of punishment that has been executed rarely, yet many consider cruel and unusual. The topic of these forms of punishment is very controversial, in that these forms of punishment cannot be distributed fairly. One can also question if…

The histories of Cruel and Unusual Punishment have been around for as long as humans have walked the earth. Even though there are many types of cruel and unusual punishment such as torture, solitary, death penalty, excessive bail, and coerced confessions. One of our histories cruel and unusual punishments was by Captain George Kendall when he was found guilty of being Spaniard spy and was executed in 1608 in Jamestown Virginia. The Cruel and Unusual Punishment provide that our government may…

In 1972, the Supreme Court place a ban on the death penalty all fifty states. The court recognized that the system allowed for cruel and unusual punishment, and ruled that until the system was amended, there would be no executions in the United States. Even though the death penalty has since been reinstated in many states, the court created criteria to define "cruel and unusual punishment". It would be defined as "degrading to human dignity", "arbitrary", "rejected throughout society", and…

they lacked a justice system with appropriate punishments. Cesare Beccaria, one of the most respected philosophers during the Enlightenment period, introduced the idea of a judicial system with reasonable punishments. Beccaria believed that a functional government should have a structured judicial system that punishes people according to the severity of their crimes. He strongly opposed against cruel and unusual punishments as well as the death penalty. A well established judicial system,…

Flogging is a cruel method of punishment. Not only does flogging leave abiding scars on the surface of the skin, but lasting scars to one’s mentality. After sixteen or more swings to the exterior of the dermis, one’s body starts collapsing. Death is one of the merciless results from this corporal punishment. No form of punishment should leave both physical or mental damage to one. Ask this simple question: Who are you to decided someone’s faith? The answer is limitless; no one is entitled to…

The connotation of death penalty and cruel and unusual punishment often goes together. The Supreme Court regularly cited the Eighth Amendment for decision of cruel and unusual punishment. The Courts have to determine that the “punishment must not involve the unnecessary and wanton infliction of pain... punishment must not [also] be grossly out of proportion to the severity of the crime (Cripes, pg. 262)”. According to the two criteria, death penalty is clearly cruel and unusual punishment. The…

Federal and state governments have experienced a significant discrepancy in the practice of criminality reprimand. The definition of “cruel and unusual punishments” has been subjectively determined, leaving the decision of what constitutes as cruel or unusual to each state in America. This debacle results in thirty-two states allowing the death penalty, while eighteen states believe the death penalty contradicts the civil rights and liberties of its citizens. The Eighth Amendment, which states,…

Torture and cruel treatment is banned at all times, places, and including times of war (Torture). It is a terrible thing that still exists in some countries. People use it either to get information from people or to just hurt the person involved. We as people should not defend torture, because it is hurting people to get something. What is the reason that it is done? There are other methods to get information and possibly more effective ways. Torture has always been up for debate and it is a…

Corporal Punishment: Cruel and Unusual Corporal punishment is defined by Merriam-Webster as a punishment intended to cause physical pain on a person. This was the typical form of punishment used by slave owners. They would use this form of punishment to make the slaves fear them to keep the slaves under their control. They needed this amount of control to deter the slaves from revolting and causing an uproar because of the harsh ways they were treated. During that time in our history the slave…