VIII. Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.
November 11, 2009
My So-Called Life Without Parole 11-09-09
Here's a truly fascinating report on the Supreme Court arguments concerning whether or not sentences of life without parole are cruel and unusual when imposed on juveniles. My own take? I think sentencing should depend entirely on the heinousness of the crime committed. Ideally, we ought to take a detailed report of the crime to a judge somewhere who's never heard of either the victim or the accused, and he should impose sentence without thought for race, religion, or age. Some of these kids aren't children. They're monsters who should never again see the light of day. I suspect that truly blind justice would see that just fine. The only cruel and unusual action in connection with those crimes and criminals would be setting them free. Ever.
November 9, 2009
Fort Hood shooting: Maj Nidal Malik Hasan could be executed 11-07-09
I don't believe in unwarranted or "cruel and unusual" punishments. I do, however, believe in justice. And in the case of Major Hasan, I'm inclined to forego lethal injection and just put him against a wall and shoot him. It would save us a fortune in the upkeep and further court maneuverings in the case of a man who infiltrated our most heroic of institutions with his pretense that he was a real American (and no, I don't care where he was born), and betrayed his fellows in the cruelest possible way.
October 28, 2009
Ohio can't find doctors to advise on executions 10-26-09
Okay, I can understand that you might need to be a doctor to address specifics such as the collapsed veins that plagued the last Ohio attempt at an execution. But really, you don't need to know much at all to know that anesthetics can be given via mask; that any question of pain could be eliminated if execution were via anesthetic overdose; and that these ongoing arguments are nothing but another delay technique.
About the Eighth Amendment
The Eighth Amendment protects those charged with crimes from punishment in disproportion to the charge(s) or conviction(s). The intent of the Amendment is both to play some small role (in conjunction with the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Amendments) in enforcing the presumption of innocence until guilt has been proven, as well as to permit an accused the freedom to prepare an adequate defense. The notion comes almost verbatim from the English Bill of Rights (1689).
In some instances, it may appear that bail is excessive. In fact, the bail may have been deliberately set so high as to be impossible for the defendant to pay. This is not necessarily unconstitutional, however, when it is understood that bail is to be calculated based on the danger the defendant may represent to the public if he or she is not incarcerated as well as on the likelihood a defendant will flee. Court cases dealing with this issue have consistently found that high bail amounts can be appropriate and not in violation of the Eighth Amendment.
Capital punishment is not necessarily cruel and unusual,
according to court rulings, unless a death sentence is mandatory for certain crimes and thus leaves a judge and jury no discretion in the matter. It goes without saying that the method of execution itself must be humane. Although I agree that some criminals may not deserve compassion, I would point out that it was the criminal's egregious lack of compassion that landed him (or her) on Death Row and the State should certainly be better in that regard than are those upon whom it imposes sentence. I must add that I support death sentences only when guilt is certain. Even a "beyond a reasonable doubt" verdict can be wrong (haven't we seen enough people released from prison for serious crimes it turns out they didn't commit?), and recompense can never be made to a man or woman who is dead.
Click here for more on the Eighth Amendment.
