It bans cruel and unusual federal punishments.
The idea seems to have been to prevent the federal government imposing worse punishments than were common at the time.
It prohibits, after all, only punishments that are both unusual and cruel.
It does not prohibit punishments that are merely unusual, or merely cruel.
And it does not at all address the interesting question whether a punishment might be excessive, given the crime.
"And it does not at all address the interesting question whether a punishment might be excessive, given the crime."
ReplyDeletePhilo, you're not a lawyer by any chance are you? I mean, that's the sort of question that would keep a thousand lawyers busy for a thousand years and as it's a 'sort of' constitutional question you would be paying for it!
Not a lawyer.
ReplyDelete