Amendment 8 of the United States Constitution is a part of the United States Bill of Rights, influenced by the English Bill of Rights of 1689. It was added to the constitution in 1791, and states that "Excessive bail shall not be required, not excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted". Why do the United States still impose death penalty whereas the majority of the greats democracies in the world prohibit it? Are Eighth Amendment and Death Penalty in contradiction? The Orders of the Supreme Court and the evolution of the standards of decency are delimiting the application of the capital fine. In 1997, the American Bar Association called for a suspension of the death penalty until changes were made to make certain that "death penalty cases are administered fairly and impartially, in accordance with due process and minimize the risk that innocent persons may be executed". Things can still change if laws as well as mentalities change.
[...] Chief Justice Earl Warren used to say that Eighth Amendment must draw its meaning from the evolving standards of decency that mark the progress of a maturing society”. B)The evolution of the standards of decency The Universal declaration of Human Rights in 1948 proclaimed a “right to but as it was felt it was too early to call for an international abolition of capital punishment, the United States only limited the scope of capital justice in order to protect juveniles, pregnant women and old people. In the United States too, capital punishment is questioned. [...]
[...] The amendment is death penalty a cruel and unusual punishment? The amendment 8 of the United States Constitution is a part of the United States Bill of Rights, influenced by the English Bill of Rights of 1689. It was added to the constitution in 1791, imposing that “Excessive bail shall not be required, not excessive fines imposed, or cruel and unusual punishments inflicted”. Why united States are still imposing death penalty whereas the majority of the great's democracies in the world prohibit it? [...]
[...] In Furman versus Georgia in 1972, Justice Brennan defined “four principles by which we may determine whether a particular punishment is cruel and unusual”: a punishment must not be degrading to human dignity torture), must not be inflicted I wholly arbitrary fashion, must not be totally rejected throughout society, and last but not least a punishment must not be unnecessary. The question is: for what sortie of crime can American people accept the death penalty? For example, in Maynard vs Cartwright in 1988, the Court defined that an “especially heinous, atrocious cruel or depraved” murder case can justify the application of a death sentence. [...]
[...] But there is still a sensible question: what is crueler, death penalty or a life in prison? Some person may prefer the death to a life between four grey walls . Finally, execution's methods have changed; nowadays the condemner has sometimes the choice between two execution's methods. The majority of the States purposes the lethal injection, which seems to provoke the death quickly and without pain. There is also the gaze room, the electric chair, and rarely the hanging or the firing squad. [...]
[...] In a way, this can be qualified of a cruel treatment. In 1997, the American Bar Association called for a suspension of the death penalty until changes are made to make certain that “death penalty cases are administered fairly and impartially, in accordance with due process and minimize the risk that innocent persons may be executed”. Things can still change if laws change in the same time those mentalities. To conclude, it is difficult to understand, that United States, the “Nation of Life, Liberty and pursuit of Happiness” (Lincoln, Jefferson) is also one of the States in the world which more practice the death penalty, with China in Iran. [...]
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