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Do you support capital punishment? Why or why not?
Homework: 9th Amendment Questions: Monday
Worst photo tattoos ever? Form
of punishment?
th
8
The
Amendment, the Death
Penalty, and Current Issues
Justice or “cruel and unusual
punishment”?
The 8th Amendment to the
Constitution
“Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive
fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments
inflicted.”

While what might be considered “excessive” bail or
fines might be open to interpretation, most of the
attention focused on the 8th amendment has to do
with whether a punishment given to an accused or
convicted person is “cruel and unusual”.
The Death Penalty

Most of the historical controversy surrounding the
interpretation of the “cruel and unusual punishment”
clause of the 8th amendment dealt with whether the
use of the death penalty is constitutional.
– The Supreme Court has issued several rulings that have
shaped the use of the death penalty, but has not gone so
far as to outlaw it…

Before we look at the Court’s opinions in this area,
let’s take a look at the current state of affairs
regarding the DP in the United States
Current Statistics on the Death
Penalty

Nearly every state in the country has the option of
executing criminals
– PA does have the option of execution for murder under
18 “aggravating” circumstances
» Circumstances that make the crime “especially bad”
» http://www.capitalpunishmentincontext.org/resources/statelaws
/pa
» There were 52 executions in 2009; which state do you believe
executed the most convicted criminals in 2009?
Lethal Injection
Electrocution and Lethal Injection
Gas Chamber and Lethal Injection
Hanging and Lethal Injection
Firing Squad and Lethal Injection
No Death Penalty
Death Penalty Usage Worldwide
Significant Cases Dealing with
the Death Penalty

Furman vs. Georgia: (1972) Death penalty as
applied was unfair/unconstitutional
– Punishment (death penalty) is “cruel and unusual”
when it is “too severe for the crime, if it is arbitrary, if
it offends society's sense of justice, or it if is not more
effective than a less severe penalty”.
» Forces states to change the way that they assign the death
penalty to convicts
» But DID NOT rule the use of the death penalty itself
unconstitutional

States were forced to change the procedures for
instituting the death penalty if they wanted to
continue to use it.
Significant Cases Dealing with
the Death Penalty

Gregg vs. Georgia: (1976) Court rules that
DP, under adequate guidelines, is
constitutional.
– If mitigating (lessening) or aggravating
(worsening) factors are taken into account, the
DP can be used
– When there is a separate trial for guilt and
punishment (bifurcated trials), the DP can be
used
– When states provide for automatic appeals of
the decisions, the DP can be used
Modern Challenges to the Death
Penalty

Most of the current/recent court cases that concern
the 8th amendment deal with the type of execution or
the crimes whereby a person is eligible to be
executed.
– For example, the SC is currently hearing cases dealing
with these issues:
» Whether the process of lethal injection (including the actual
chemicals used) is unconstitutional
» Whether certain severe crimes against minors (but not murder)
are punishable by death
» Whether a jury was truly representative in a death penalty case
The Future of the 8th Amendment

Since the Court’s opinion on the constitutionality of
the DP seems to be relatively stable and “decided”,
more specific questions about the death penalty have
been coming before the Court…
Baze and Bowling vs. Rees
(2008)
Facts of the Case
 Two Kentucky inmates challenged the state's four-drug lethal
injection protocol. The lethal injection method calls for the
administration of four drugs:
– Valium, which relaxes the convict, Sodium Pentathol, which knocks the convict
unconscious, Pavulon, which stops his breathing, and potassium chloride, which
essentially puts the convict into cardiac arrest and ultimately causes death.
– The Kentucky Supreme Court held that the death penalty system did not amount
to unconstitutional cruel and unusual punishment.
Question
 Is the use of a four-drug lethal injection process to carry out death
sentences a violation of the Eighth Amendment ban on cruel and
unusual punishment?
The Decision

In a 7-2 decision with four concurrences and a dissent, the
Court held that Kentucky's lethal injection scheme did not
violate the Eighth Amendment.
– Noting that the inmates had conceded the "humane nature" of the
procedure when performed correctly, the divided Court ruled the
inmates had failed to prove that incorrect administration of the
drugs would amount to cruel and unusual punishment.

However, the Court also suggested that a state may violate
the ban on cruel and unusual punishment if it continues to
use a method without sufficient justification in the face of
superior alternative procedures.
Roper vs. Simmons
Facts of Case
 This case, in Missouri, involved Simmons, who, in 1993 at the age of
17, concocted a plan to murder Shirley Crook, bringing two younger
friends, Charles Benjamin and John Tessmer, into the plot.
– The plan was to commit burglary and murder by breaking and entering, tying up
the victim, and tossing the victim off a bridge.

The three met in the middle of the night, broke into Mrs. Crook's
home, bound her hands and covered her eyes. They drove her to a
state park and threw her off a bridge. Simmons was sentenced to
death in 1993, when he was only 17.

Question Presented:
– Does the execution of a minor, or someone convicted of a crime while a minor,
violate the 8th amendment?
Roper vs. Simmons

Question Presented:
– Does the execution of a minor, or someone convicted of a crime while a minor,
violate the 8th amendment?

The Decision:
– Yes. In a 5-4 opinion delivered by Justice Anthony Kennedy, the
Court ruled that standards of decency have evolved so that
executing minors is "cruel and unusual punishment" prohibited by
the Eighth Amendment.
» The majority cited a consensus against the juvenile death
penalty among state legislatures, and its own determination that
the death penalty is a disproportionate punishment for minors.
» Finally the Court pointed to "overwhelming" international
opinion against the juvenile death penalty.
Graham vs. Florida
Question Presented:
Does the imposition of a life sentence without parole for
juveniles convicted of a non-homicidal offense violate the
Eighth Amendment prohibition of "cruel and unusual
punishment?"

Conclusion: In a 6-3 vote, the Supreme Court held
that the Eight Amendment's Cruel and Unusual
Punishments Clause does not permit a juvenile
offender to be sentenced to life in prison without
parole for a non-homicidal crime.
– The Court made a point to note that life sentences for
juveniles for non-homicidal crimes has been "rejected the
world over.”