8th Amendment Under Attack Essay

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Is the eighth amendment under attack? The eighth amendment states that no person shall be submitted to cruel and unusual punishment. The question is whether or not this right is under attack from those who support the death penalty. When the bill of rights was created it was intended to stop judges from unruly, and unreasonable punishments of people who committed certain crimes. However in the day and age we live in now, the supreme court has placed provisions and rules on the use of the death penalty, and with its support it is threatening the idea of the eighth amendment, and those who oppose it. Topic Sentence: Those who oppose the death penalty argue that it is inhumane. However, supporters argue that the ways states use the death penalty is humane comparatively to older times. Some examples of these older types of capital punishment are; “boiling a prisoner to death in oil, dismembering a convict (often by having them drawn and …show more content…

When the framers thought of the eighth amendment it originated from the English Bill or Rights of 1689.(Constitution Laws). The amendment states that no person shall be submitted to cruel and unusual punishment, but what does this really mean? According to Constitution Laws, “The Eighth Amendment forbids the use of punishments that are excessive when related to the crime in question or compared to the competence of the aggressor”. This means that the use of the death penalty doesn’t violate the eighth amendment in some people's minds. As long as the crime fits the punishment, then the use of capital punishment is allowed. This type of ideology and thought process is a threat to the eighth amendment itself. When people believe that the use of this punishment isn’t a violation, then they are going to use their other rights to protect what they believe. The supreme court could also be a threat to the eighth

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