Essential Question: How does the eighth amendment protect American Citizens from being violated?
The Eighth Amendment states that there is no cruel or unusual punishment allowed. Also, it is meant to safeguard and protect Americans against excessive bail and fines. It was adopted from the English Bill of Rights. Next, Titus Oates inspired the idea for the 8th amendment but, James Madison introduced it. It was ratified and adopted into the Bill of Rights on December 15, 1791. Although the amendment was ratified at this date the term "cruel and unusual punishment" was first used in the Virginia Declaration of Rights in 1776. In addition, no state opposed or vetoed the eighth amendment. The most important part of the eighth amendment is that your punishment has to fit your crime. For example, you can't get your hands cut off for stealing a candy bar from a store because the punishment does not fit the crime. Punishments like, hard labor and taking away a persons citizenship is completely forbidden no matter what the crime and there are extremely strict rules against the death penalty. Even though there are very strict rules against the death penalty, The Supreme Court decided that it would not be completely forbidden. Next, the Constitution forbids certain punishments because they are unnecessary, not approved by the people, and unreasonable. Some states have different considerations of what is cruel and unusual punishment, for example some punishments are allowed in North Carolina that are not allowed in South Carolina, so each state has different opinions on what is cruel and what isn't. In conclusion, the eighth amendment protects all citizens of the U.S. from being punished in a cruel or unusual way and also protects citizens from excessive bail and fines.
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Eighth Amendment
Essential Question: How does the eighth amendment protect American Citizens from being violated?
The Eighth Amendment states that there is no cruel or unusual punishment allowed. Also, it is meant to safeguard and protect Americans against excessive bail and fines. It was adopted from the English Bill of Rights. Next, Titus Oates inspired the idea for the 8th amendment but, James Madison introduced it. It was ratified and adopted into the Bill of Rights on December 15, 1791. Although the amendment was ratified at this date the term "cruel and unusual punishment" was first used in the Virginia Declaration of Rights in 1776. In addition, no state opposed or vetoed the eighth amendment. The most important part of the eighth amendment is that your punishment has to fit your crime. For example, you can't get your hands cut off for stealing a candy bar from a store because the punishment does not fit the crime. Punishments like, hard labor and taking away a persons citizenship is completely forbidden no matter what the crime and there are extremely strict rules against the death penalty. Even though there are very strict rules against the death penalty, The Supreme Court decided that it would not be completely forbidden. Next, the Constitution forbids certain punishments because they are unnecessary, not approved by the people, and unreasonable. Some states have different considerations of what is cruel and unusual punishment, for example some punishments are allowed in North Carolina that are not allowed in South Carolina, so each state has different opinions on what is cruel and what isn't. In conclusion, the eighth amendment protects all citizens of the U.S. from being punished in a cruel or unusual way and also protects citizens from excessive bail and fines.
Links:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eighth_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution
http://constitutioncenter.org/interactive-constitution/amendments/amendment-viii
http://kids.laws.com/eighth-amendment
http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Eighth+Amendment
http://constitution.findlaw.com/amendment8.html