Among the more progressive definitions of a constitution is as a contract between the people and their government that inter alia provides limits on how the powerful government should treat its powerful subjects. These limits were left out in the original US Constitution, a fact that necessitated the drafting in 1789 and enactment in 1791 of the first 10 amendments to the constitution (Atherton, Barlow, & Burger, 1991). Among the most limiting amendments is the 8 th Amendment that relates to the criminal justice process. The letter of the amendment limits the powers of the government to hold citizens without bail and also limits the kinds of punishments that the government can visit upon a citizen who has been convicted of a crime. The 8 th Amendment is a subject of several applications, appeals, and petitions within the Criminal justice systems (Martens, 2016). Despite the fact that the 8 th Amendment to the US constitution is just one line, it is one of the most monumental sections of the Bill of Rights.
How and Why the Amendment was Drafted and Enacted
There are two primary ways of looking at why the 8 th Amendment came into place. The first is a political approach and the other is a criminal justice approach. The political approach regards the fact that when the founders drafted the US Constitutions, there were two main factions. One faction advocated for a powerful central government in a bid to cure the vagaries of the Confederacy (Atherton, Barlow, & Burger, 1991). The other advocated for more power to be relegated to the state based on the argument that a powerful central government would become a tyranny. Eventually, a compromise would be arrived at where a powerful central government would be created but with its powers exponentially limited by the Bill of Rights including the 8 th Amendment. The criminal justice approach, on the other hand, is based on the fact that the USA has an adversarial criminal justice system. Under the system, the hapless citizen is pitted against the all-powerful criminal justice system (Atherton, Barlow, & Burger, 1991). To protect the citizen from the excesses of the power system, the 8 th Amendment acts as a shield for the citizen in order to even the playfield to some extent.
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The Provisions of the 8th Amendment
“ Excessive bail shall not be required……..” is the first phrase of the 8th Amendment to the US constitution and relates to the subject of granting of bails to defendants who have been indicted for crimes (Martens, 2016). The six simple words in the phrase have a monumental impact on the criminal justice system based on both their direct meaning and the various implications that are associated with that meaning. For a start, the phrase has the implication that every defendant is, as a matter of right entitled to be released on bail unless exigent circumstances to the contrary are established. That meaning alone eliminates any authority to hold a citizen indefinitely without due process. The phrase also means that the terms upon which a defendant is released on bail must be reasonable and not excessive (Martens, 2016).
“………. nor excessive fines imposed… ” is the penultimate phrase in the 8 th Amendment and relates to the issue of pecuniary punishment for crimes (Martens, 2016). This phrase relates to the traditional approach in the common law criminal justice system where for some crimes, a fine would be included as part of the punishment or be levied as a punishment by itself. The phrase protects citizens from being levied fines that are so excessive that the citizens stand no chance to pay them. In the alternative, the phrase also protects the citizens from being levied fines that are not commensurate with the crimes that they are accused of having committed (Martens, 2016). The general idea behind the phrase was to prevent the criminal justice system from being abused as a tool for tyranny.
“…… nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted ” is the final and most controversial phrase within the 8 th Amendment, more so due to the issue of capital sentences. As per the wording of the phrase, when American citizens have been found guilty of crimes, they should not be punished in ways that seem excessive or unusual (Reinert, 2015). The phrase may not make a lot of sense in modern times when the world is more civilized but it is based on English Common Law. The traditional criminal justice system in England included extreme punishments such as being sold into slavery or being drawn and quartered. Over the centuries, however, the meaning of cruel and unusual punishment has changed meaning to include issues such as hanging, corporal punishment, forced labor, and a number of execution processes (Reinert, 2015). The provision of cruel and unusual punishment is currently applicable to state and federal criminal justice systems. Within the criminal justice system, the instant phrase has been the subject of a large number of criminal appeals and petitions including to the Supreme Court every year.
Discussion and Conclusion
The research and analysis above reflect just how powerful a single sentence can be when placed in the right place within the law. The sentence is the 8 th Amendment of the US Constitution with its power lying in the fact that it falls within the bill of rights. Being within the bill of right ensures that the meaning of the 8 th Amendment is taken seriously by the government and any breaches thereof become actionable in the highest courts of the land. The referenced meaning includes protection from being inordinately held in remand while the trial is pending. Secondly, it includes protection from being levied fines that are either too high or are not commensurate with the crime convicted for. Finally, the amendment ensures that convicts are not robbed off their dignity in the process of being punished. The meaning of the 8 th Amendment has been changing as it is continually applied within the judicial process and is bound to keep on changing as the American society keeps on changing.
References
Atherton, H., Barlow, J., & Burger, W. (1991). The Bill of Rights and beyond: 1791-1991 . Washington, DC: Commission on the Bicentennial of the United States Constitution.
Martens, M. T. (2016). Why “tough on crime” is neither Christian nor conservative. Notre Dam Journal of Law, Ethics and Public Policy, 30 . 67-80
Reinert, A. A. (2015). Reconceptualizing the Eighth Amendment: Slaves, prisoners, and cruel and unusual punishment. NCL Rev. , 94 , 817-860
