NCJ Number
122972
Journal
American Criminal Law Review Volume: 26 Issue: 4 Dated: (Spring 1989) Pages: 1617-1658
Date Published
1989
Length
42 pages
Annotation
This analysis of the Eighth Amendment's clauses prohibiting cruel and unusual punishments and the imposition of excessive fines focuses on the historical foundations and case law regarding these rights and on the issues likely to arise in the future.
Abstract
The Eighth Amendment rests on the English Bill of Rights and the principles of the Magna Carta. Extensive litigation on the death penalty has focused continuing attention on the clause relating to cruel and unusual punishment, while little attention has focused on excessive fines. The United States Supreme Court has gradually eliminated potential Eighth Amendment challenges to the death penalty, so its opponents will have to focus on international human rights in mounting challenges to capital punishment laws. In addition, the Supreme Court in 1989 considered its first case involving excessive fines in deciding that the clause does not apply to the award of punitive damages by a jury in a civil case. Further cases involving excessive fines are likely. Finally, the future of the Eighth Amendment will closely parallel the political future of the executive branch and the resulting appointments to the Supreme Court. 295 footnotes.