The 8th Amendment protects against excessive bail, fines, and cruel and unusual punishment. It has been interpreted by the Supreme Court in several cases related to bail, the death penalty, and prison conditions. For example, the Court has ruled that life imprisonment for non-homicide juvenile offenders and execution of the mentally ill or intellectually disabled are unconstitutional under the 8th Amendment.

1.  
Michelle Palaro
CJUS 2360
Fall 2015
Chapter 12
The Eighth Amendment:
Bail, Fines, and
Punishment

2.  The 8th Amendment protects three rights:
o That excessive bail shall not be required
o That excessive fines shall not be imposed
o That cruel and unusual punishment shall not be
inflicted
 This Amendment has a lot of controversy
because of interpretations about whether the
death penalty is cruel and unusual

3.  Money or property pledged by a defendant for pretrial
release from custody that would be forfeited should the
defendant fail to appear at subsequent court
proceedings
 Bail serves two purposes:
1. Helps to assure the appearance of the accused at court
proceedings
2. It maintains the presumption of innocence by allowing
individuals not yet convicted of a crime to avoid continued
incarceration
 Also allows individuals to:
o Prepare a defense
o To continue earning income if employed

4.  Bail itself is not guaranteed under the 8th
Amendment
o Only excessive bail is prohibited, which is not clearly
defined
o Bail may be denied in capital cases and when the
accused has threatened possible trial witnesses
o The excessive bail prohibition has never been
formally incorporated to apply to the states under the
14th Amendment, allowing states to deal with it
through their constitutions, legislation and case law

5.  Granted judicial authority to include
specific conditions of release for the
community's safety
 Allows judges to consider the potential
criminal conduct of those accused of
serious offenses and deny bail on those
grounds

6.  Jackson v. Indiana (1972)
o Government may detain dangerous defendants who may be
incompetent to stand trial
o http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackson_v._Indiana
 Addington v. Texas (1979)
o Government may detain mentally unstable individuals who present a
public danger
o http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Addington_v._Texas
 United States v. Salerno (1987)
o Pretrial detention under this act did not violate the 8th Amendment
o http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_v._Salerno

7. Stack v. Boyle , 342 U.S. 1
(1951)
 Facts: Members of the Communist Party were charged
with conspiring to teach overthrowing the government,
and were unsuccessful in a motion to reduce $50,000
bail
 Issues: Was the bail excessive under the 8th
Amendment?
 Holding: Yes
 Rationale: Bail set at a figure higher than an amount
reasonably calculated to fulfill its purpose is excessive
under the 8th Amendment
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stack_v._Boyle

8.  The prohibition against excessive fines
has not been incorporated, so it does not
apply to the states
 Excessive fine prohibition does not apply
in the civil area
o Because civil cases are between
private parties and the Constitution
regulates the government

9.  Asset Forfeiture
o The seizure by the government, without compensation,
of money and property connected with illegal activity
 Property connected with illegal activity may be
forfeited when used as a conveyance to transport
illicit drugs
 Real estate used in association with a crime and
money or other negotiable instruments obtained
through criminal activity also can be seized and is
considered a civil sanction by the government

10.  Facts: Austin pled guilty to one count of possessing
cocaine with intent to distribute. Agents seized his
mobile home and auto body shop
 Issues: Was the forfeiture excessive?
 Holding: Yes
 Rationale: The Supreme Court ruled that the 8th
Amendment prohibition against excessive fines applies
to civil forfeiture proceedings against property
connected to drug trafficking. The amount seized must
bear some relation to the value of the illegal enterprise
under the 8th Amendment
 https://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/92-6073.ZS.html

11.  The final clause of the 8th Amendment
 What is “cruel and unusual?”
o Depends on what society believes it to be

12.  Facts: While serving several sentences for rape,
defendant escaped prison and raped another victim. He
was sentenced to death after capture and trial
 Issues: Is the death sentence disproportionate to crime
under 8th Amendment?
 Holding: Yes
 Rationale: Punishment is excessive and unconstitutional if
it makes no measureable contribution to acceptable goals
of punishment and hence is nothing more than the
purposeless and needless imposition of pain and suffering.
Also, if it is grossly out of proportion to the severity of the
crime (a crime without homicide getting a death sentence)
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coker_v._Georgia

13.  The courts have used three inquiries in assessing
constitutionality of cruel and unusual punishment:
1. Whether the punishment shocks the general conscience of a
civilized society
2. Whether the punishment is unnecessarily cruel
3. Whether the punishment goes beyond legitimate penal aims
 The Supreme Court has established three criteria for
proportionality analysis (making the punishment fit the
crime):
1. The gravity of the offense and the harshness of the penalty
2. The sentences imposed on other criminals in the same jurisdiction
3. The sentences imposed for the commission of the same crime in
other jurisdictions

14. Ewing v. California

15.  Facts: Defendant given a sentence of 25 years to life
imprisonment for felony theft under “three strikes”
sentencing
 Issues: Was the sentence cruel and unusual?
 Holding: No
 Rationale: 5 to 4 vote held that California’s three
strikes law did not violate the 8th Amendment under the
proportionality principle. Such laws were a "deliberate
policy choice" on the part of legislatures to isolate those
who have "repeatedly engaged in serious or violent
criminal behavior" from the rest of society in order to
protect public safety

16. Graham v. Florida

17.  Facts: Graham was 16 when he committed armed burglary
and another crime. Under a plea agreement, the court
sentenced Graham to probation and withheld adjudication of
guilt. Later, the court found that he had violated the terms of
his probation by committing additional crimes. The court
found him guilty of the earlier charges, revoked his probation,
and sentenced him to life in prison for the burglary
 Issues: Is it unconstitutional to sentence someone to life in
prison without the possibility of parole for a non-homicide
crime committed under the age of 18?
 Holding: Yes
 Rationale: The Court found the sentence to be a violation of
the Eighth Amendment ban on cruel and unusual punishment
if a youth “did not kill or intend to kill”

18. Furman v. Georgia

19.  Facts: While robbing a home, Furman woke up the owner.
However, in the midst of his attempt to escape, a firearm
that he had been carrying was discharged striking and
killing the owner of the home. State law allowed the jury to
impose death for a killing during a felony such as burglary
 Issues: Was this procedure cruel and unusual?
 Holding: Yes
 Rationale: Ruled its law as it stood was capricious and
hence, cruel and unusual punishment. The Court ruled
that the states had to give judges and juries more
guidance in capital sentencing to prevent discretionary use
of the death penalty

20.  Due to the Furman case, executions were
suspended across the country
 The federal government passed a new
death penalty law instituting a new two -
step process (bifurcated trial):
1. Determine innocence or guilt
2. Determine whether to seek the death penalty

21.  Mental Retardation
o Atkins v. Virginia (2002)
• The Supreme Court has prohibited executing the
mentally retarded
 The Mentally Ill
o The Supreme Court banned execution of the
insane
o Ford v. Wainwright (1986)
• An inmate that becomes mentally ill while in prison
cannot be executed

22. Atkins v. Virginia

23. Ford v. Wainwright

24. Roper v. Simmons

25. Roper v. Simmons , 543 U.S.
551 (2005)
 Facts: 17 year old Simmons entered the home of the
victim, committed robbery, bound the victim, and threw her
off a bridge in a nearby state park, killing her. He was
sentenced to death
 Issues: Is it cruel and unusual to execute minors?
 Holding: Yes
 Rationale: Under the "evolving standards of decency"
test, the Court held that it was cruel and unusual
punishment to execute a person who was under the age of
18 at the time of the murder. In support of the "national
consensus" position, the Court noted the increasing
infrequency with which states were applying capital
punishment for juvenile offenders

26.  8th Amendment rights are divides into two categories:
1. Actions against individual prisoners
2. Institutional conditions
 Cases based on the 8th Amendment for prisoners
include:
o Overcrowding
o Solitary confinement
o Corporal punishment
o Physical abuse
o Use of force
o Treatment and rehabilitation, or the right not to be treated
o Death penalty

27.  The Supreme Court has been called on to determine
whether conditions and actions within correctional
institutions constitute cruel and unusual punishment
 Rhodes v. Chapman (1981)
o Double-celling and crowding do not necessarily constitute
cruel and unusual punishment
o http://www.clearinghouse.net/detail.php?id=896
 Wilson v. Seiter (1991)
o Prisoners must prove prison conditions are objectively
cruel and unusual and show they exist because of
officials’ deliberate indifference
o http://www.oyez.org/cases/1990-1999/1990/1990_89_7376