No, learning about Civics and American History is not the Cruel and Unusual part. Actually, when done properly, this stuff can be fun and interesting.
Following up on my earlier lessons about the Bill of Rights, today’s focus is on two more of the fundamental rights of the accused found in the Seventh and Eighth Amendments. And that’s where “cruel and unusual” comes in. You don’t need to be a law student or a lawyer to know that phrase: it was invoked by the Supreme Court to regulate capital punishment. And it is clearly a subjective standard that is often revised and otherwise fine-tuned.
But first, this wouldn’t be a proper Civics Lesson without a Pop Quiz: Here are five more of the questions regarding things you need to know to become an American citizen.
1. What did the Declaration of Independence do? (in nine words or less)
2. What is the economic system of the United States? (Two officially acceptable answers, subject to debate.)
3. Name four states that border Mexico. (Citizen applicants only have to provide one. But I’m the mean teacher.)
4. Name three of the five U.S. territories. (Applicants need only know one.)
5. Who did the United States fight in World War II? (All three main opponents, please)
Now, for more of your basic rights…
Amendment Seven
Guarantees the right of trial by jury in federal civil cases.
In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury shall be otherwise re-examined in any Court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.
This amendment gives a right to a trial by jury for monetary damages in federal court. The Constitution does not require a jury in civil cases in state courts.
Amendment Eight
Protects from excessive bail or fines; cruel and unusual punishment.
Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.
Another of the amendments that protect the rights of the accused, it allows the accused to post bail, a guarantee that he will return for trial, in order to be free from detention to prepare his defense. A judge can determine that factors such as the gravity of the offense and previous record weigh against bail.
More controversial is the “cruel and unusual punishment” line, which has been used to argue against the death penalty. In 1972, the Furman v Georgia decision essentially ended all capital punishment. In 1976, the decision Gregg v Georgia opened the way for executions. Under current Court rulings, the death penalty is not considered cruel and unusual, although the United States is one of the few industrialized nations that permits the death penalty.
One widely accepted argument has been that the death penalty acts as a deterrent, preventing further murders. Statistically speaking, there is no evidence to support that idea. In fact, some statistics suggest that the opposite is true. Over the last twenty years, the homicide rates in states with the death penalty has been 50 to 100 percent higher than the rate in states without it, a 2000 New York Times study found. FBI crime statistics in 2009, according the the Death Penalty Information Center, show southern states with the highest rates of execution also have the highest homicide rates, while northern states with no death penalty have substantially lower murder rates. (Link below)
The fact is that homicide rates are often determined by many other factors, including demographics, unemployment, and poverty.
The execution of convicted terrorist bomber Timothy McVeigh in 2001 came at a time when the country was reexamining its attitudes about the death penalty. The governor of Illinois, a conservative Republican who previously supported capital punishment, and the governor of Maryland, a Democrat, both announced a moratorium on executions when a significant number of death row convictions were overturned in their states. In some of these cases, new DNA evidence proved a convicted person’s innocence; other convictions had been found to be based on tainted evidence or misconduct by police investigators, technicians, or prosecutors.
In 2002, the Supreme Court issued two rulings that also reflected changing attitudes toward the death penalty. In the first case, the Court ruled that the execution of the mentally retarded qualified as cruel and unusual punishment. In another case, the Court held that juries rather than judges must determine if the death penalty is to be used.
The Death Penalty Information Center, a nonprofit, nonpartisan group, offers a history of the death penalty and other valuable information and resources on the issues relating to the death penalty.
Pop Quiz Answers:
1. Acceptable answer are: Announced our independence (from Great Britain); or declared our independence (from Great Britain); or said that the United is free (from Great Britain).
2. Capitalist economy or free market economy.
3. California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas.
4. Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Northen Mariana Islands, Guam.
5. Germany, Japan and Italy.
