The eight amendment prohibits excessive bail, fines, and cruel or unusual punishment. This amendment insures that the punishments for crimes are not excessive, cruel, or unusual. In other words, the Eighth Amendment refers to de facto punishments whether they are officially handed down as punishments or not. The death penalty: The U.S. Supreme Court found that the death penalty , which was applied capriciously and on a racially discriminatory basis, violated the Eighth Amendment in Furman v. The 8th Amendment ensures that the judge, despite any personal feelings about the case does not impose excessive punishment or fines larger than what is appropriate. The Eighth Amendment was part of the Bill of Rights that was added to the Constitution on December 15, 1791. Eighth Amendment Excessive Fines, Cruel and Unusual Punishment. But when was the last time you thought or heard about the Eighth Amendment? The Eighth Amendment, that is, demands both form and substance, both a system for decision and one geared to produce morally justifiable results. Even with this amendment in place, court cases are often overruled, and the 8th Amendment brought into play. The Eighth Amendment of the United States Constitution states that: “Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.”. The 8th Amendment’s prohibition on excessive fines was seen as something of a curiosity in the modern era, until the case of United States vs. Bajakajian in 1998. The State thinks its scheme is beyond questioning, whether as to form or substance, for it sees the tie-breaker law as … The man in question had taken more than the maximum permitted $10,000 of U.S. currency out of the country without reporting it as the law required, and was fined over $350,000 as a result. The Eighth Amendment of the United States Constitution guarantees citizens the right to be free from excessive bail and cruel and unusual punishment. Al Rossi is correct, when he says: > It prevents a judge from singling out a defendant for ad hoc invented punishment. Passed by Congress September 25, 1789. The right was created in reaction to the excesses of the Courts of Star Chamber and High Commission—British courts of equity that operated from 1487-1641. Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted. This is Why We Have the 8th Amendment. From the Constitution Here is the text of the Eighth Amendment from the Constitution: > Why is the 8th Amendment important to us? Consequently, The Founding Fathers created the Eighth Amendment to be intended for further generations to interpret the meaning of “cruel” and “unusual” over time (Donnell). Ratified December 15, 1791. by Tim Donner | Jun 15, 2015 | Blog. It was ratified along with the Bill of Rights and took effect in 1791. Governments have used excessive bails, fines and cruel punishments to restrict people's freedom, take away or damage their lives, and to take away property with excessive fines. These courts utilized the … It does, however, work to protect us from potential tyranny by the government. The 8th Amendment is perhaps less important in terms of rights than other amendments in the Bill of Rights. The Excessive Bail section provides constitutional protection against excessive bail, including the practical denial of bail by fixing its amount unreasonably high, as decided in United States v. The 8th amendment was written to preserve people's right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. We all know much about the first and second amendments in the Bill of Rights, and perhaps the fourth and/or fifth and/or tenth. The first 10 amendments form the Bill of Rights. 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