Professional Documents
Culture Documents
The Constitution and Criminal Law
The Constitution and Criminal Law
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation
THE CONSTITUTION AND CRIMINAL LAW 2
While the United States of America law is multi-faceted, federal government and the
constitution of the United States remain the fundamental forms of its law. The two are
empowered with the sovereign authority. The American constitution is the primary source of
governmental powers in addition to protecting the citizen’s fundamental rights. The present-day
criminal systems has protected the rights of citizens, thus protecting the defendants from
unjustified punishments as criminals are believed to be innocent until they are proven guilty
(Kaplan, Weisberg & Binder, 2014). The eighth American constitution amendment has barred
imposition of harsh punishments on the criminal defendants by the federal government, hence reducing
the severity of punishments once criminal is convicted guilty. This essay will deliberate the current state
of a law and how it has changed from earlier decisions, besides discussing court cases that caused change
in interpretation of law over the years. The essay will also review legal principles used in justification of
changes in interpretation of cases. Lastly, an explanation will be provided regarding whether the current
state of law reflects the clear intent of that law as originally stated in the Constitution.
In the Eighth constitutional amendment, the criminal law requires prohibition of excessive fines
and bails with an intention of protecting lawbreakers against unusual and cruel punishments. This was
formerly intended by the founders of the constitution to guard against what they believed to be unusual
and cruel punishments imposed on lawbreakers ( Hess, Orthmann & Cho, 2014. However, with
constantly changing legal environment, the society’s definition of unusual and cruel punishments has
changed.
In Furman v. Georgia, Furman was discovered by a family member robbing a private home,
while trying to escape, he accidentally slipped and fell down. Consequently, the resident of the home was
murdered Furman’s gun which went off. The court of law approved a death sentence after he was
convicted of murder. However, the court reversed the judgment holding that death penalty imposition
violated eighth and fourteenth constitutional amendments as punishment was cruel and unusual.
THE CONSTITUTION AND CRIMINAL LAW 3
In Gregg v. Georgia, the court affirmed constitutionality of the death sentence penalty imposed to
Georgia, after he was found guilty of murder and armed robbery. The court claimed that eighth and
fourteenth amendments had not been violated because the statute did not constitute a cruel and unusual
punishment (Kaplan, Weisberg & Binder, 2014). Despite Gregg challenging the verdict claiming that
the death sentence was unlawful, the jury maintained its judgment since no amendment was violated.
With eighth and fourteenth constitutional amendments defending citizens’ protection from
unreasonable fines and excessive bails, the debate on unusually and cruelty of punishments has constantly
been changing. Severally, the constitutionality of death sentence has challenged many courts across the
globe over the years. For instance, the existing death penalty laws were invalidated in the case of Furman
v. Georgia because it was instituted as cruel and unusual punishment. According to the courts, the eighth
constitutional amendment discriminated against poor and minority groups. Later on, the court established
in case of Gregg v. Georgia, death sentence was constitutional even without expanding the case in
Furman v. Georgia. It was held that death sentence could reduce possibility of future murder cases.
Georgia’s new capital punishment was supported by the court, as a result, the arbitrary application
Even though the wording of eighth amendment did not change, its interpretation has greatly
changed. The cruel and unusual punishment definition has been scrutinized to take into consideration the
changes in the society. As clearly portrayed by the aforementioned criminal cases, there is different
interpretation of death sentence, the case which is similar to modern-day where different viewpoints exist
regarding the issue. While eighth amendment may appear to shield criminals from severe punishments,
cruel and unusual punishment interpretation remain a matter of question as it depends on the case on
hand. Ideally, eighth Amendment has changed from constitutional originalism concept in definition and
the amendment interpretation. The founders of the constitution intended to protect lawbreakers from
harsh treatment during the litigation process ( Karazivan, 2017), however, in 8th amendment the
originalism concept has greatly evolved and so it will continue to do to match the evolving society.
THE CONSTITUTION AND CRIMINAL LAW 4
References
Hess, K. M., Orthmann, C. H., & Cho, H. L. (2014). Introduction to law enforcement and
Kadish, S. H., Schulhofer, S. J., & Barkow, R. E. (2016). Criminal law and its processes: Cases
Kaplan, J., Weisberg, R., & Binder, G. (2014). Criminal law: Cases and materials. Wolters