Mark George The Significance Of The Eight Amendment

The death penalty violates the eight Amendment of the United States Constitution that forbids cruel and unusual punishment. John M. Sheb and John M. Sheb II wrote in their book Criminal Law and Procedure that the eight amendment of the United States Constitution has been employed to limit the definition of crime. The authors mentioned the case of Robinson v. California where the Supreme Court, relying on the cruel and unusual punishment clause, found it unacceptable the state law that made crime the use of narcotics. The law was struck down because the Court determined that one couldn’t be punished merely for status without committing a criminal act (Sheb, 70-71). The Death penalty practices serve to be inconsistent with the fundamental laws and values in America’s democratic system. The meaning of cruel and unusual punishment lies on the person who perceives it, does he/she perceive it would be addressed depending on his/her point of view about human being’s dignity.
Mark George indicates in his article The Relevance of The Eight Amendment to the US Death Penalty in the 21st Century, that people with mental retardation faced high risks of wrongful convictions because they might make wrongful of false confessions. The case of Atkins v. Virginia is a clear example of cruel and unusual punishment. In 1996, the American Association of Mental Retardation declared Atkins mentally incapable. However, the court sentenced him to capital punishment. It wasn’t until 2001 that Atkins was exonerated of capital punishment due to his mental condition. Chief Justice Warren explained, “The basic concept underlying the 8th amendment is nothing less than the dignity of man… The Amendment must draw its meaning from the evolving standards of decency that mark the progress of a maturing society” (George,