lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=U.S.&vol=408&invol=238).
The issues surrounding the 8th Amendment are often complex. The cruel and unusual punishment clause, for instance, may well be at a constitutional crossroads as we move into the 21st century. Depending on the health and position of society, and the manner in which globalization has changed the way America is perceived in the world, and perceives itself, a change in attitude regarding the rubric of punishment is part of the way society defines itself. Thus, the importance of the interpretation of this amendment cannot be underemphasized -- and now, with a new Supreme Court Justice, the balance may well change as to the interpretation. As one legal scholar noted,

As with cruelty, the precise contours of the definition of unusualness can be developed only through case law; they cannot be outlined prospectively. What we can insist on prospectively, however, is that the two terms be defined in some way as….

CIV S-90-0520 LKK JFM P, 2009 WL 2430820 (E.D.
Cal. Aug. 4, 2009). (2010). Harvard Law eview, 123(3), p.752-759.

This article discusses the civil rights case Coleman v. Schwarzenegger wherein the plaintiff sued California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger for unconstitutional prison conditions. The lawsuit was examined in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California under the Prison Litigation eform Act of 1995 (PLA). The court ruled that authorities should conduct an assessment on the impact of prisoner's release on public safety as long as inmate reduction measures are concerned.

Eight Amendment -- Death Penalty- Missouri Supreme Court Holds that the Juvenile Death

Penalty Violates the Eight Amendment. - State ex rel. Simmons v. oper, 112 S.W.3d

(Mo. 2003) (en banc), cert. granted, 124 S. Ct. 1171 (2004). Harvard Law eview,

117(7), p.2456-2461.

This article looks at the decision of the Missouri Supreme Court on the case State ex rel. Simmons vs. oper which held….

Or, as Saletan points out, those three elements "by deduction, are the due process test" (2011).
But this ought to leave a bad taste in one's mouth because all three of these elements can be manipulated to violate one's due process right.

"hich leaves us with an awkward bottom line. If the target is a suspected terrorist, "imminence" can be redefined to justify killing him. If the weapon is a drone, feasibility of arrest has already been ruled out -- that's why the drone has been sent to do the job. So in any drone strike on a U.S. citizen suspected of terrorism, only one of the three questions we supposedly apply to such cases is really open: Has he been fighting alongside al-Qaida? If he has, we can kill him. That's the same rule we apply to foreigners. In effect, citizenship doesn't matter. The "due process" test is empty" (Saletan….

The death penalty is not unconstitutional and is even mandatory for certain crimes with the judge and jury having little discretion in the matter in order to avoid violating the provision that prohibits 'cruel and unusual punishment' the methods used for execution of the death penalty should be humane and sensible. While the criminal may lack in possessing any compassion whatsoever that this complete lack of the ability to have or posses real compassion that resulted in their being sentenced to death is a consideration in the regard given those sentenced to death. Finally, there should be no lack of certainty that the individual being put to death was the perpetrator of the crime committed.

VI. The ISSUES & the DEATE[S]

The issues and debates surrounding the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth and Eighth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution are becoming more heated with each passing day and while the general public has been….

U.S. CONSTITUTION
The effect that ever changing societal values have on the Supreme Court's interpretation of the U.S. Constitution

The effect that ever changing societal values have on the Supreme Court's interpretation of the U.S. Constitution

The effect that ever changing societal values have on the Supreme Court's interpretation of the U.S. Constitution

Constitution represents the supreme law that directs political, social, cultural, and economic aspects of the nation. All other laws must be in line with the constitution in order to be effective and efficient in their application. Social or societal values have continuous effects on the interpretation of the constitution. The main objective of the constitution is to protect the interest of the individuals in the society. This objective makes the constitution relevant to the societal values within the context of the United States of America. The societal values keep changing in the contemporary world thus resulting into various amendments and….

Some of these methods include plea agreements and the disclosure of incriminating evidence, along with witness testimony. Thus, defendants' rights do not tie the hands of officers and the courts because officers and the courts have an arsenal of ways to manage these rights and still perform their jobs.
While the myriad of rights offered to defendants in the United States may sometimes seem like ways to protect the guilty and harm the innocent, this is far from the case. Not only are these rights necessary for protecting the defendant, along with the rest of the democratic society of the United States, but the rights can also be managed through a plethora of legal tactics on the part of the courts and police officers. Established through the Constitution and landmark court cases, primarily, defendants' rights honor the intent of the constitution. Though it is true that some guilty defendants may….

Correctional institutions have enhanced in quality and condition over the years. What started out as dungeons and sewers in ome, the conditions for correctional institutions have improved to quite an extent. In the 1980s, overcrowding became a renowned problem as it also went against the eighth amendment that forbids cruel and unusual punishment. (Carter & Glaser, 1977, p. 1) Increased crowdedness causes mental and physical damage to the inmates in the prison according to a research done by Paulus, Cox and McCain. The Iowa department of corrections takes control of the public, workers and the offenders by keeping them under punishment yet away from cruel behaviors as well. All the correctional measures taken under the criminals are done under proper supervision to ensure that their safety is not compromised.
Community-based correctional institutions.

Community-based corrections are a substitute measure to punish criminal without sending them to jail. The Iowa department of Corrections is….

Moreover, in Perry v. Louisiana, 498 U.S. 38 (1990), the Court used that decision to bolster Louisiana's attempts to forcibly medicate a prisoner in order to make him death-eligible. If one agrees that the death penalty is a just penalty for one who has committed a capital crime, and that the reason that mentally ill defendants should not be executed is because they lack competence, then it does not seem unethical to allow them to be forcibly medicated in order to be competent. After all, in that scenario, avoiding medication could be likened to any other attempt to avoid punishment. Moreover, an organic physical disorder that arose after conviction, but that would have prevented a defendant from committing a crime, would not be sufficient reason not to execute a person on death row.
However, forced medication, especially for court appearances, may violate a defendant's Fifth Amendment right to present a….

U.S. Supreme Court and the Rights of Inmates
The objective of this study is to identify the constitutional amendments that deal directly with the rights of correctional inmates. For each amendment, this work will describe the rights of inmates and correctional procedures that evolved to protect those rights. Lastly, this work will explain the role of the U.S. Supreme Court in interpreting correctional law, inmates' rights and correctional procedures.

Four Amendments That Address Rights of Prisoners

The primary areas of constitutions rights for inmates incarcerated in U.S. prisons are derived from four constitutional amendments. Those four amendments include the following:

(1) First Amendment -- This amendment governs to what extent authorities restrict the rights of inmates in regards to religion, speech press, and in general, the right to communicate with persons outside the jail. (Thigpen, Hutchinson, Persons and Holland, 2007)

(2) Fourth Amendment -- due process and equal protection. This amendment determines what types of….

Panetti has not challenged those factual findings on appeal."
Panetti could not be considered incompetent to stand execution based on Ford v. Wainwright. Similar to Panetti, Ford did not initially argue mental illness, but during the trial he developed a severe form of mental disorder, leading to his unawareness of the crimes he had committed and of the reasons for his capital punishment.

The involved parties were both counting on Justice Powell's previous expertise in the Ford v. Wainwright case and were hoping that the judge would be better able to understand both sides.

The dismissal of the second issue of the case, that of the habeas relief motion, is based on the argument that Ford only "requires an opportunity for the petitioner to be heard and an impartial tribunal - both of which Panetti received." Other requests of Panetti's were dismissed. "ecause the state-court procedures were adequate under Ford, the AEDPA….

In fact, when actual harm seems imminent, the government has more leeway to restrict the speech. Fighting words or words likely to result in harm to an individual fall into this category. The most notorious example is shouting "Fire" in a crowded theater. A more realistic example is the criminalization of terroristic threats.
) in an essay of at least two well-developed paragraphs, explain how laws related to capital punishment have changed since the early 1970s

At the beginning of the 1970s, capital punishment was legal throughout the United States, though execution rates varied tremendously by state. However, in 197, in the case of Furman v. Georgia, 408 U.S. 38 (197), the Supreme Court suspended capital punishment throughout the states. The Court found that capital punishment violated the Eighth Amendment's prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment. However, it is important to realize that the violation did not come from the actual….

U.S. Constitution: Discussion Questions
A) he Fourteenth Amendment: the Case of Whitney V. California

274 U.S. 357

Whitney V. California (No. 3)

Argued: October 6, 1925

Decided: May 16, 1927

453 Affirmed

Location: Socialist Convention at Loring Hall

Factual Analysis: Anita Charlotte Whitney, who subscribed to the CLPC (Communist Labor Party of California), found herself was arraigned for breaching the state's 'Criminal Syndicalism Act', which forbade any actions aiding or advocating crime commission, including "terrorism as a means of accomplishing a change in industrial ownership or control, or effecting any political change" (LII, n.d.).

was the 'Criminal Syndicalism Act' repugnant to the Fourteenth Amendment? By penalizing those who advocate unlawful and violent methods of altering political and industrial situations and not penalizing individuals who advocate the same methods with the aim of maintaining such conditions, the statute, in the view of the defendant, contravened the 'Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment' (LII, n.d.).

Majority Opinion: No. he Criminal Syndicalism….

Capital Punishment
Is Capital Punishment Cruel and Unusual?

hat is cruel and unusual punishment? Does the definition of cruel and unusual punishment change with time and changing social mores? Does the determination of whether or not a punishment is cruel and unusual depend on the crime committed, the criminal being punished, or both? These are all very important questions, which must all be examined before one can determine whether or not capital punishment is cruel and unusual punishment.

Cruel and unusual punishment is a difficult term to define, as it depends on the values and mores of the defining society. The prohibition against cruel punishment basically means that the punishment should fit the crime. For example, determining when death is an appropriate issue has been one of the complicating factors in the death penalty debate. Historically, the death penalty was previously available for a variety of crimes, ranging from theft of property to….

Supreme Court established in analyzing the constitutionality of punishment? List and discuss at least three of them.
The only specific mention of definition of legally administrable punishment in the U.S. Constitution is that the punishment not be cruel and unusual, a vague semantic term that has proved fertile ground for both opponents and proponents of the death penalty. Capital punishment, however, was declared unconstitutional in Furman v. Georgia (1972). This was not because it meted out death to a defendant. Rather, it was the grounds that it was administered in a cruel and unusual fashion. Thus it was in violation of the Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Also, Georgia's capital punishment laws were meted out in an unclearly defined fashion that was overly subjective, and according to sociological data submitted to the court, seemed to unfairly penalize African-Americans. It was also thus in violation of the equal protection clause….

Graham vs. Florida Focal Point Analysis
There are many issues involved in the Supreme Court decisions especially with regard to the Constitution. One important assumption is that the court is moving to create a situation where the rights of humans are being protected and arbitrariness being curbed. In the light of the fact that human rights are now a universal concept and is globally acknowledged, the fact that constitutions and laws that abridge the human rights have to go or be amended cannot be argued against. While the constitution may be supreme, the rights of humans take priority, especially in the global context. In such a case the case of Graham vs. Florida can be seen as a landmark judgement so far as the way prisoners have to be treated is concerned.

The problem is more of legal rationality because the laws are rules that a society creates for the guidance of….

Complexities of Capital Punishment

1. Ethical and Moral Implications: Explore the ethical and moral dilemmas associated with the death penalty, considering arguments for and against its use based on concepts such as retribution, deterrence, and the sanctity of life.

2. Racial and Economic Disparities: Analyze the racial and economic disparities in the application of the death penalty, examining the role of systemic racism and socioeconomic factors in sentencing outcomes.

3. Psychological and Neurological Aspects: Discuss the psychological and neurological implications of the death penalty, including the mental anguish it inflicts on individuals sentenced to death and the potential for irreversible mistakes in sentencing.

Debating....

Historical Arguments:

For the Death Penalty:

Ancient civilizations (e.g., Egypt, Greece, Rome) used capital punishment for severe crimes to deter crime and maintain societal order.
In the Middle Ages, the death penalty was commonly applied for a range of offenses, including treason, murder, and heresy.
Colonization and early American jurisprudence heavily influenced by European traditions, resulting in the adoption of capital punishment for various crimes.

Against the Death Penalty:

Enlightenment thinkers like Cesare Beccaria argued against capital punishment, emphasizing its potential for injustice and its ineffective deterrent value.
The 18th and 19th centuries witnessed a gradual decline in the use of the....