“Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.”

-8th AmendmentUnited States Constitution

The 8th AmendmentThe 8th Amendment was adopted, as part

of the Bill of Rights in 1791.It is almost identical to a provision in the

English Bill of Rights of 1689, in which Parliament declared, "as their ancestors in like cases have usually done...that excessive bail ought not to be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.”

Cruel and Unusual PunishmentsAccording to the Supreme Court, the 8th

Amendment forbids some punishments entirely, and forbids some other punishments that are excessive when compared to the crime, or compared to the competence of the perpetrator.

Louisiana ex rel. Francis v. Resweber (1947)

The Supreme Court assumed that the Cruel and Unusual Punishments Clause applied to the states through the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

Punishments Forbidden Regardless of the Crime

In Wilkerson v. Utah (1878), the Supreme Court commented that drawing and quartering, public dissecting, burning alive, or disemboweling would constitute cruel and unusual punishment regardless of the crime.

In Skinner v Oklahoma (1942) the Supreme Court ruled that forced sterilization for crimes was unconstitutional – continued until the 1960s for the mentally ill

Trop v. Dulles (1958)Justices held that it was cruel and unusual

punishment to make loss of citizenship the penalty for desertion.

The meaning of the 8th amendment could be discerned from evolving standards of decency.

Evolution of Decency"The [Eighth] Amendment must draw its meaning

from the evolving standards of decency that mark the progress of a maturing society.“

Subsequently, the Court has looked to societal developments, as well as looking to its own independent judgment, in determining what are those "evolving standards of decency”.

Over time, our definition of decency has changed.The Court has then applied those standards not only

to say what punishments are inherently cruel, but also to say what punishments that are not inherently cruel are nevertheless cruelly disproportionate to the offense in question.

Juveniles and life sentencesGraham v Florida (2010) The Supreme Court

ruled that juveniles cannot receive true life sentences without the possibility of parole for crimes that are not homicide

The majority decision noted that almost no countries have true life sentences for juveniles and few states have juveniles in jail indefinitely

Proportionality In Rummel v. Estelle (1980), the Court upheld a life

sentence with the possibility of parole for fraud crimes totaling $230.

In Harmelin v. Michigan (1991), the Court upheld a life sentence without the possibility of parole for possession of 672 grams of cocaine.

In Lockyer v. Andrade (2003), the Court upheld a 50 years to life sentence with the possibility of parole imposed under California's three strikes law when the defendant was convicted of shoplifting videotapes worth a total of about $150.

Death PenaltyThe provision of the 8th Amendment provides

a major constitutional source for challenging the death penalty.

The death penalty can only be issued by a jury, not a judge or attorney.

“Death is different”

Death penaltyFurman v Georgia (1972) – Death penalty is

unconstitutional if it is inconsistently enforced

Gregg V. Georgia (1976) Reinstituted the death penalty for murder if carefully employed.

1) bifurcated proceeding where the trial and sentencing are conducted separately

2)specific jury findings as to the severity of the crime and the nature of the defendant

Death Penalty for RapeIn Coker v. Georgia (1977), the Court declared

that the death penalty was unconstitutionally excessive for rape and, by implication, for any crime where a death does not occur.

In Kennedy v Louisiana (2008) The Court extended the reasoning of Coker by ruling that the death penalty was excessive for child rape "where the victim’s life was not taken.“

Death penalty limitationsThe Supreme Court declared executing the

mentally handicapped as unconstitutional in Atkins v. Virginia (2002)

Executing people who were under age 18 at the time the crime was committed was ruled unconstitutional in Roper v. Simmons (2005)

In Oregon and in the USA today

OregonLegal in Oregonoutlawed between 1914 and 1920, again between

1964 and 1978, and then again between a 1981 Oregon Supreme Court ruling and a 1984 ballot measure

Since 1904, about 60 individuals have been executed in Oregon

Thirty-two people are on Oregon's death row as of 1 July 2009

Last person killed way in 1997, after he dropped all appeals

Death by lethal injection

Lethal injectionKills the person by first

putting the person to sleep, then stopping the breathing and heart in that order

Supporters argue that the method less painful and more efficient

Supreme Court has upheld the method in 2009

USA – Lethal Injection

USA – Other forms

Firing Squad

Gas Chamber

Electric Chair

USA - NumbersAbout 13,000 put to death since colonial timesTexas holds the record for the largest number of

executions since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976 – 456 Since 1982

Virginia has executed a larger percentage of its population than any other state over 1 million in population.

88% of the world’s executions (killing 1,252) in 2007 were done in China, Iran, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and the United States.

All of Europe has banned the death penalty