Question

please help me. i need to know how is the 8th amendment handled in another country?

Answer 1

How It's Used


Innocent until proven guilty

The Eighth Amendment allows individuals accused of a crime to post bail because they are considered innocent until proven guilty. Individuals are allowed to post bail because they might end up spending more time in jail waiting for trial than the jail time they would have received if convicted. Additionally, it allows individuals to prepare their defense.

Limits on bail

The Eighth Amendment ensures that "excessive bail" is not required. Hence, someone accused of shoplifting won't have a million dollar bail. The amount of bail required is determined by the severity of the crime and the person's ability to pay the bail.

In some cases, people may not have the right to post bail. People will likely be denied the right to post bail for serious crimes, if the individuals are considered dangerous to the community, or if it is likely that the accused will flee.

"Cruel and unusual punishment"

The Eighth Amendment protects against "cruel and unusual punishment." This protection has been widely debated. Consider the death penalty issue from your issues project. Some people feel that the death penalty is "cruel and unusual punishment" while others consider it justice.

For a time period in the 1960s and 70s the Supreme Court suspended all executions while determining the death penalty's constitutionality. The Court decided that the death penalty (or capital punishment) is constitutional. The Court has ruled that executions by firing squad and electrocution are constitutional or humane methods of capital punishment. Recently, the Supreme Court has ruled that individuals with mental handicaps can not be executed but juveniles can be executed if they commit a serious crime worthy of the death penalty while they are juveniles.

The debate on the constitutionality revolves around two arguments. One, is the death penalty cruel and unusual punishment for how it is carried out, such as gas chamber, lethal injection, or any type of execution? Two, is the death penalty cruel and unusual punishment for how it guilt is determined? In the second argument, issues of fairness, discrimination, and methods used to determine guilt, such as DNA evidence, are at the forefront of the debate.

The Eighth Amendment protects individuals from many types of punishment and from punishment that is too cruel for the crime committed. Fro example, the Supreme Court stated in Weems v. United States (1910) that fifteen years of hard labor was too excessive for a crime involving bookkeeping errors. Similarly, the police can not beat the snot out of criminals, cut off body parts for crimes as done in some countries, and use other forms of torture as punishment.