We have learned that the framers intended for the Law of our country to be a “living law” with the ability to grow and conform to the ever-changing norms of society. But then why would the framers write a statement that simply declares the modern punishment to be within the norms of society. All punishment is within the realm of society’s norms, because it responds to the present needs of that society, mainly through juries and a democratic government. So is the 8th’s final statement pointless, or did the framers intend to set a standard for the limits of harsh punishment?

In Trop v. Dulles of 1958 Chief Justice Earl Warren declared that the clause “must draw its meaning from the evolving standards of decency that mark the progress of a maturing society”. In 1944 Albert Trop was an American soldier stationed in Casablanca, Morocco. H

In a case where the punishment has been neither cruel nor unusual, but excessive, the Court has ruled in favor of the defendant. In Robinson v. California (1962) a drug addict had been sentenced to serve three months in jail, simply for being an addict. Robinson was not in possession, or even high at the time. The only evidence used to convict him was the scars and needle marks on his arm. But the court has not set precedent on “proportionality analysis”. On the other extreme the text mentions another case which proved a very different verdict. In Harmelin v. Michigan the Court upheld a mandatory life sentence, with no chance of parole, for first-time cocaine possession. What really frustrates me is that this decision came as recently as 1991, demonstration a need for a judicial overhaul. (Textbook, 314)

The Supreme Court found his punishment too extreme, “A penalty that was permissible at one time in our nation's history is not necessarily permissible today”- Thurgood Marshall. The Court determined that citizenship does not act as a license which can expire or be withheld do to mischievous acts. The court ruled that the punishment of denationalization violated the Eighth Amendment because it was a cruel and unusual punishment. (Text, 313)

In 1975 the issue of the conditions of Texas prisons was brought to court. In 1972 David Ruiz began a class-action lawsuit against the Texas Department of Corrections (TDC) for the neglect and cruelty of their inmates by the Department. Ruiz v Estelle began in Texas State court and was appealed to the 5th Circuit Court in 1982. The trial lasted many years and resulted in the district court taking a “supervisory role” over the conditions in the Texas Department of Corrections. (http://www.november.org/razorwire/rzold/13/1320.html)

Throughout the years there have been several methods of capital punishment that were accepted by the society at the time. Stoning, being fed to animals, crucified, stretched, shot, boiled in oil, buried alive, beheaded, etc, have at one time or another been society’s methods of capital punishment. Since the founding of our nation we have used capital punishment, which, according to the Court is still acceptable by society. The US is the only nation to used methods such as the electric chair, and the only nation to execute persons for crimes they committed as juveniles. Furthermore, the recent use of DNA evidence has found that 1/3rd of all death row inmates could not have committed their crime (are innocent). In 1976 Gregg v. Georgia the Court ruled that the death penalty required conviction in a bifurcated trial, a trial to determine guilt and a trial to determine death sentence. States were not required to adopt this law but 3/4ths did.

A national effort by conservatives has led congress to pass the Prisoners Litigation Reform Act, which intends to

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