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Importance of the eighth amendment
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The 8th Amendment, “cruel and unusual” clause.
The “cruel and unusual” clause in the eighth amendment states that “cruel and unusual punishment” such as torture or lingering death can not be inflicted on anyone as a form of execution. It is however permissible under the 8th Amendment to execute a convict by means of hanging, shooting, electrocution, and lethal gas.
There is still confusion about what is actually constitutes “cruel and unusual punishment.” There have been several court cases of interest that have challenged and redefined this concept. In Louisiana ex. Rel. Francis v. Resweber, a convicted murdered was subject to a botched execution, and subsequently argued that a second attempt at execution would be a violation of the Eighth Amendment constituting cruel and unusual punishment. While the Supreme Court rejected this argument, stating that the eighth amendment applies to “cruelty inherent in the method of punishment.” I found it interesting that in the Case of Trop v. Dulles the Supreme Court ruled that loss of citizenship did constitute cruel and unusual punishment. The Supreme Courts position was that to revoke citizenship would be “to subject the individual to a fate forbidden by the principles of civilized treatment guaranteed by the Eighth Amendment.”
I do not consider the death penalty to be cruel and unusual punishment for persons convicted of one or more murders. For instance, my example of a convicted criminal deserving of the death penalty is Andrea Yates. I believe the only adequate justice for the murder of her five children is that she be given the death penalty. What she did to those children was certainly cruel and unusual and since she was given a fair trial by a jury of her peers and found guilty she be subject to death due to the heinous nature of the multiple homicides she committed. To spite my personal disdain for her actions under the law she and persons like her are still entitled to a fair trail (which she already had), as well as the appeals process, but I feel strongly that the death penalty should be used in place of life sentencing.
In the United States, a citizen has rights granted to them under documents such as the Constitution, including the Bill of Rights, which gives citizens certain freedoms as long as they obey the law. When someone commits a crime, they are then entitled to aspects such as a speedy trial, a fair jury, an attorney if they wish, and other things, under the sixth amendment. Even if the person is found guilty, as a U.S. citizen they have rights under the eighth amendment which include protection against excessive bail or fines, and cruel and unusual punishment. Since the framers enacted the amendment, the exact definition of cruel and unusual punishment has been difficult to pin down, changing with the times and everyone’s interpretations. Pete Earley’s novel, The Hot House: Life Inside Leavenworth Prison, depicts the conditions in the United States’ toughest prison, where some prisoner recounts, as well as Earley’s
The Supreme Court has found many acts of punishment unconstitutional, such as torture, and inhumane executions. Ludovico treatment does not harm a person, instead what it does is reform that person so they can conform to societal behavioral standards. An example of a Supreme Court case that dealt with the Eighth Amendment was Hudson vs McMillan in 1992. In this case the Court considered whether the beating of inmates violated the inmate’s Eight Amendment rights. In a 7 to 2 vote the Supreme Court found that prison guards exerting excessive force maliciously to induce harm on inmates violated his eighth amendment rights even if there were no permanent injuries of hospitalization ( Taxin, 1052). In this case the Supreme Court ruled that beating prisoners was unconstitutional because it was viewed as cruel and sadistic. Ludovico treatment does not seek to harm criminals, instead it seeks to reform criminals so they won’t be a danger to society. For this reason the Supreme Court would not rule Ludovico unconstitutional. Another example of a Supreme Court case dealing with the eighth amendment was the Supreme Court case Roper v Simmons in 2005 ( DeNunzio, 369). In this case, the Court considered whether it was merciless and bizarre to execute a convicted felon for a criminal offense committed as a minor. The Supreme Court ruled against the execution in 5-4 decision. They rationalized that it was wrong to execute someone for a crime they committed when they were minor because the mind of a minor had not yet completely and fully developed. This is another case in which the Supreme Court found that the penalization of someone was inhumane and unjust. Ludovico treatment wouldn’t come under such scrutiny, as long as the treatment is prescribed as a treatment to people that are
Ultimately, Lucrezia Borgia was not as evil as she has long been depicted. She was an honest and hardworking woman. From her enormous enterprise to her parenting, Lucrezia was a somewhat decent person.
The extents of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution has been long discussed since its adoption in mid-late 1800s. Deciding cases like Brown v. Board of Education and Roe v. Wade has been possible due to mentioned amendment. These past cases not only show the progression of American society, but also highlights the degree of versatility that is contained within the amendment. Now, in 2015, the concerns are not of racial segregation or abortion, the extent of the amendment was brought to a new field: same-sex marriage. In Obergefell v Hodges, we can see the epitome of the Equal Protection Clause.
It may be hard to admit, but television has become an intricate part of our everyday lives. People children often find themselves sitting in front of the television screen for a longer period of time than before and this has evolved immensely over the past few years. In this article, “The Trouble with Television,” by the author Marie Winn, mentions that addiction of television is negative effects on children and families. It keeps the families from doing other things and it’s a hidden competitor for all other activities. Television takes place of play and on top of that kids who watch a lot of television grow uncivilized. Also, the author mentioned that televisions are less resourceful for children and have negative effects on children’s school achievement and on physical fitness. Although there are so many other types of addictions but the author Marie Winn’s points of argument of watching television is a serious addiction that our children and families have negative effects.
In conclusion there are holistic elements that can be used to help with the condition along with medical and preventative treatments asthma is a genetic incurable ongoing illness on the human lungs and even though it is reactive to environmental factors that causes inflammation that results in an asthmatic reaction.
The eighth amendment of the U.S Constitution has been a key part to the justice system from the moment it was created. It provides the basic rights that everyone deserves. The eighth amendment is very important because it guarantees many “freedom from” rights. For example, it protects Americans from cruel and unusual punishments. Without the eighth amendment many people would be punished in an inhumane manner based on the morals of the judge. The eighth amendment is crucial to the U.S Constitution because it promises that all citizens are guaranteed their rights, including the citizens who are felons and display criminal acts.
are expected to tell the truth, even if that truth was to put you in
Capital punishment remains a cause for debate with people continuing to disagree. on what cruel and unusual punishment consists of. Cruel and unusual punishment being defined as torture or a deliberately degrading punishment, in no way does the death. penalty falls into this category. Having the death penalty in our society deters potential violent offenders from committing crimes, saves the government money, and guarantees that offenders will not commit these crimes again.
Asthma is a chronic disease that makes it difficult to breathe. The airways to the lungs swell up and become inflamed, which narrows the air passageway to the lungs and the lungs cannot receive the amount of oxygen that it needs. “Mucus builds up inside the airways so you have trouble getting air in and out of your lungs.” (Pope, 2002, p.44). If the lungs do not receive the essential amount of air, it will cause a lot of distress and wheezing to the patient.
Asthma is a condition of the bronchial tubes characterized by episodes of constriction and increased mucous production. A person with asthma has bronchial tubes that are super sensitive to various stimuli, or triggers, that can produce asthma symptom.In other words, asthmatics have special sensitivity that causes their lung tissue to react far more than is should to various stimulating factors or triggers. For this reason, people with asthma are said to have "twitchy airways."Some symptoms that people with asthma commonly experience are chest tightenings, difficulty inhaling and exhaling, wheezing, production of large amounts of mucous in their windpipes and coughing.Coughing can be frequent or intermittent, and can be loose-reflecting extra mucous secretion in the airways or dry and deep-reflecting tight bronchospasms. Not all these symptoms occur in every case of asthma.Sometimes people may have coughing without and symptoms for months or even years before it's realized that they are asthmatic. Interestingly enough, asthma symptoms are most severe at night, while we're lying down our airways narrow as a result of gravity changes. Also our lungs do not clear secretions as well at night, which leads to mucous retention, and that can increase the obstruction to air flow.
Asthma is a disorder of the respiratory system in which the passages that enable air to pass into and out of the lungs periodically narrow, causing coughing, wheezing, and shortness of breath. This narrowing is typically temporary and reversible, but in severe attacks, asthma may result in death. Asthma most commonly refers to bronchial asthma, an inflammation of the airways, but the term is also used to refer to cardiac asthma, which develops when fluid builds up in the lungs as a complication of heart failure. This article focuses on bronchial asthma.
When people hear the word asthma, the first thing that comes to mind is a nerd wheezing and taking an inhaler almost every five minutes, but that is not the case for everyone who is diagnosed with this disease. A person with asthma will often wheeze, become breathless, experience tightness in the chest, and cough at night or early in the morning. Asthma is a chronic respiratory condition and a disease marked by spasms in the bronchi of the lungs, caused by chronic inflammation within the breathing passages. This may...
Most of you may not think of asthma as a killer disease, yet more that 5,000 Americans die of asthma each year. According to the Mayo Clinic web page, asthma also accounts for more that 400,000 hospital discharges annually. As the number of people with asthma increases, the more likely you are to come in contact with a person who has the disease. As far as I can remember, I have had asthma my whole life. My mother and one of my sisters also have asthma, so I have a first hand experience with it. This morning, I will discuss some interesting facts about asthma, I will specifically focus on what it is, warning signs, symptoms, causes, and the treatments that are used.
Asthma is a disease that currently has no cure and can only be controlled and managed through different treatment methods. If asthma is treated well it can prevent the flare up of symptoms such as coughing, diminish the dependence on quick relief medication, and help to minimize asthma attacks. One of the key factors to successful treatment of asthma is the creation of an asthma action plan with the help of a doctor that outlines medications and other tasks to help control the patient’s asthma ("How Is Asthma Treated and Controlled?"). The amount of treatment changes based on the severity of the asthma when it is first diagnosed and may be the dosage may be increased or decreased depending on how under control the patient’s asthma is. One of the main ways that asthma can be controlled is by becoming aware of the things that trigger attacks. For instance staying away from allergens such as pollen, animal fur, and air pollution can help minimize and manage the symptoms associated with asthma. Also if it is not possible to avoid the allergens that cause a patient’s asthma to flare up, they may need to see an allergist. These health professionals can help diagnosis what may need to be done in other forms of treatment such as allergy shots that can help decrease the severity of the asthma ("How Is Asthma Treated and Controlled?").