The Eighth Amendment: Cruel And Unusual Punishment

The Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution reads as follows:

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

This Amendment to the Constitution ensures you will not be unjustly imprisoned, fined or sentenced to excessive or unusual penalties that are disproportionately severe given the nature of the crimes you have committed.

The Amendment protects against unfair or inhumane treatment, ensuring that penalties imposed are proportionate to the crime and reasonable in light of society’s standards. Most states have similar protections against cruel and unusual punishment within their own constitutions.

The prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment applies to criminal sentencing, as well as to the conditions of a jail or prison. Additionally, the Eighth Amendment prohibition against excessive fines can apply to both criminal fines as well as civil fines or civil forfeiture where property is seized by the government.

Determining whether a punishment is considered “cruel and unusual” is complicated, especially as the U.S. Constitution does not provide a clear definition.

Courts have done the work to define what is considered cruel and unusual, with an “evolving standards of decency” test established by the Supreme Court in 1958. The Chief Justice of the Court, Earl Warren, wrote that cruel and unusual punishment “must draw its meaning from the evolving standards of decency that mark the progress of a maturing society.”

In a 2002 case, Atkins v. Virginia, the court reaffirmed this standard, stating “A claim that punishment is excessive is judged not by the standards that prevailed in 1685 when Lord Jeffreys presided over the “Bloody Assizes” or when the Bill of Rights was adopted, but rather by those that currently prevail.”

To apply the evolving standard of decency standard, the court generally looks at two key factors:

• The nature of the punishment and whether it involves the “unnecessary and wanton” infliction of pain
• The severity of the punishment and whether it is proportionate to the severity of the crime

Courts may look at the penalties generally imposed for all crimes in the state where the penalty was imposed, as well as the penalties imposed in other states throughout the U.S., when determining whether a punishment should be considered cruel and unusual.

When determining if a fine is excessive, on the other hand, courts are typically required to consider the financial resources of the defendant and the burden the fine presents.

Courts have found many different types of penalties to be examples of cruel and unusual punishment. Some examples of punishments that have been found to violate the Eighth Amendment include the following:

• Executing mentally insane people
• Life without parole for juveniles outside of homicide cases
• Depriving prisoners of basic necessities of life such as food, clothing, shelter and medical care

However, while some excessive punishments have been found to be a violation of the Eighth Amendment, the courts have upheld other harsh sentences. This is especially true in the context of three-strikes laws, which have been put in place by the government to try to deter repeat offenders from continuing to violate the rules.

Three strikes laws result in very serious penalties being imposed on people with past convictions. In one case, the court upheld as constitutional a sentence of 25 years to life for an offender who stole three golf clubs because he had previously been convicted of four serious/violent felonies.

If your Eighth Amendment rights are violated, you have the right to sue the government. You may be able to sue to have your sentence overturned or to seek other remedies such as monetary compensation.

You must prove the government inflicted cruel or unusual punishment on you in order to pursue a legal remedy. An experienced attorney can help you to better understand if your sentence or fine rises to the level of an Eighth Amendment violation and can assist you in determining the most appropriate legal remedy in your situation.