THE 8TH AMENDMENT

CRUEL AND UNUSUAL PUNISHMENT

FACTS:• CAPITAL PUNISHMENT IS LEGAL IN 32

U.S. STATES.

• AS OF JANUARY 2014 THERE WERE 3,070 INMATES IN 35 STATES AWAITING EXECUTION.

• CONNECTICUT, MARYLAND AND NEW MEXICO HAVE ABOLISHED THE DEATH PENALTY, BUT IT IS NOT RETROACTIVE. PRISONERS ON DEATH ROW IN THOSE STATES WILL STILL BE EXECUTED.

• SINCE 1976, WHEN THE DEATH PENALTY WAS REINSTATED BY THE U.S. SUPREME COURT, 1,386 PEOPLE HAVE BEEN EXECUTED. (AS OF AUGUST 2014)

• JAPAN IS THE ONLY INDUSTRIAL DEMOCRACY BESIDES THE UNITED STATES THAT HAS THE DEATH PENALTY.

THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT:

•THE U.S. GOVERNMENT AND U.S. MILITARY HAVE 61 PEOPLE AWAITING EXECUTION. (AS OF JULY 2014)

•THE U.S. GOVERNMENT HAS EXECUTED THREE PEOPLE SINCE 1976. (AS OF JUNE 2014)

FEMALES:

•THERE ARE APPROXIMATELY 61 WOMEN ON DEATH ROW IN THE UNITED STATES. (AS OF JUNE 2014)

•FOURTEEN WOMEN HAVE BEEN EXECUTED SINCE THE REINSTATEMENT OF THE DEATH PENALTY IN 1976. (AS OF JUNE 2014)

JUVENILES:

• TWENTY-TWO INDIVIDUALS WERE EXECUTED BETWEEN 1985 AND 2003 FOR CRIMES COMMITTED AS JUVENILES AGED 16 AND 17.

• MARCH 1, 2005 - ROPER V. SIMMONS. THE SUPREME COURT RULES THAT THE EXECUTION OF JUVENILES IS UNCONSTITUTIONAL. THIS MEANS THAT 16 AND 17-YEAR-OLDS ARE INELIGIBLE FOR EXECUTION. AND REVERSES TWO 1989 CASES IN KENTUCKY AND MISSOURI.

CLEMENCY:

• CLEMENCY PROCESSES AROUND THE COUNTRY

• 275 CLEMENCIES HAVE BEEN GRANTED IN THE UNITED STATES SINCE 1976.

• FOR FEDERAL DEATH ROW INMATES, THE PRESIDENT ALONE HAS THE POWER TO GRANT A PARDON.

A map showing country votes on the 2008 UN death penalty moratorium.    In favour (106)   Against (46)   Abstained (34

PRO/CON1. DETERRENCE

2. RETRIBUTION

3. CONSTITUTIONALITY

4. IRREVOCABLE MISTAKES

5. COST OF DEATH VS. LIFE IN

PRISON

6. RACE

7. INCOME LEVEL

8. ATTORNEY QUALITY

9. PHYSICIANS AT EXECUTIONS

FACT SHEET

• HTTP://WWW.DEATHPENALTYINFO.ORG/DOCUMENTS/FACTSHEET.PDF

WARREN HILL

•READ THE ARTICLE ON WARREN HILL.

•ANNOTATE AND MAKE CONNECTIONS TO THE EQ: WHAT IS “CRUEL AND UNUSUAL” PUNISHMENT?

WHAT DO YOU THINK? EXIT TICKET

•IS THE DEATH PENALTY “CRUEL AND UNUSUAL PUNISHMENT FOR THE MENTALLY DISABLED?

•WHY OR WHY NOT?