The Eighth Amendment

The eighth amendment was a very important change in the constitution. It states that Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.

 The Eighth Amendment was ratified on December 15th 1791

Cruel and unsusual punishment was a big deal. Taking someone's life will emotionally scar you for life. Would you want to fire a gun at someone thinking that you could kill them? Would you want to be the one to hang somebody? Probably not right? The Number of states that use the method of exicution are:

(The number to the left of the method is today) (The number to the right of the method is before the amendment) 

0 - Firing Squad- 3
0 - Hanging- 4
0 - Lethal Gas- 7
0 - Electric Chair- 11
Lethal Injection- 33


We still use the Lethal Injection Today
   The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1976 that the death penalty was constitutional.
628 inmates have been executed since 1976


          Many people who have been accused of a crime do not have the money for bail. The people who cannot afford bail get a bail bondsman. The bondsman provides money for bail. 
Courts cannot assign the accused person an excessive amount for bail. If they could, then the judge could charge someone ten million dollars for bail. The constitution now states that the courts or judges can no longer charge excessive amounts of bail.