Amendment VIII

"Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted."

Analysis of the 8th Amendment

The 8th Amendment basically states that no bail or bond shall be imposed on any accused that is unusually large; nor shall unusually large fines be imposed on any convicted, nor shall any cruel or unusual punishments be carried out on defendants convicted of any crime.

This seems simple enough - but why does it seem that this is another of the Amendments that seems to be violated most often?

The problem is that the Constitution does not stipulate what is to be considered "excessive". The Founding Fathers did this because they knew that local communities and States should have a better idea as to what would be considered excessive by -their- standards.

The 8th Amendment not only says that excessive bail not be imposed, but that excessive fines shall not be imposed either.

Bail is money that the accused gives to the government in order to stay out of jail so that an effective defense can be created. Fines are penalties that are imposed on the guilty party after the trial is concluded.

In addition, the 8th Amendment states that no cruel or unusual punishments shall be imposed. The Founding Fathers wanted the States and local communities to dictate what "cruel" and "unusual" were to be.

States and/or local communities should decide for themselves what type(s) of punishments to impose, and should be prepared to demonstrate to the federal government, and to the local public, that the punishments imposed are neither cruel nor unusual. Cruel should be easy to understand - it refers to punishments that inflict severe mental and/or physical suffering. The "unusual" part is for the community to decide for itself.

A Modern 8th Amendment

No excessive bail shall be imposed; nor shall excessive fines be set; and no cruelty, torture, or unusual punishments shall be administered.