Index: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Home > Cruel and unusual punishment
The statement that the government shall not inflict cruel and unusual punishment for crimes is found in the English Bill of Rights signed in 1689 by William of Orange and Queen Mary II who were then the joint rulers of England following the ' Glorious Revolution' of 1688. These exact words later appeared in the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution ( 1787). Very similar words ('No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment') appear in Article Five of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted by the United Nations General Assembly (A/RES/217, December 10, 1948). The right, under a different formulation ('No one shall be subjected to [...] inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.') is found in Article Three of the European Convention on Human Rights ( 1950Events January January 5 US Senator Estes Kefauver introduces a resolution calling for examination of organized crime in the USA January 6 The United Kingdom recognizes the People's Republic of China. The Republic of China severs diplomatic relations with). The Canadian Charter of Rights and FreedomsThe Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms is the bill of rights which forms part of the Constitution of Canada adopted in 1982. Its precursor, The Canadian Bill of Rights, 1960 introduced by the Diefenbaker government, applied only to Federal institutio ( 1982Events January January 6 William Bonin is convicted of being the "freeway killer". January 8 AT&T agrees to divest itself of twenty-two subdivisions January 11 Mark Thatcher, son of the British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, disappears in the Sahara du) also contains this fundamental right at Article Twelve and it is to be found again in Article Four (quoting the European Convention verbatim) of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European UnionThe Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union is a document containing human rights provisions, 'solemnly proclaimed' by the European Parliament, the Council of the European Union, and the European Commission in December 2000. Origin After the E ( 2000This page is about the year 2000. See 2000 AD for the UK comic book, Number 2000 for other uses. 2000 is a leap year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar), and also the International Year for a Culture of Peace''. Events Y2K passes without the seri).What these words mean in practice is the subject of much legal argument. It is in keeping with the basic legal maxim that the "punishment should fit the crime". The "unusual" provision, at least, is clear: providing that persons will not be subjected to arbitrary, humiliating, or carpricious punishment outside the normal course of the law (for example, tarring and featheringExcise-Man 1774 British propaganda print referring to the tarring and feathering of Boston Commissioner of Customs John Malcolm four weeks after the Boston Tea Party. The men also poured hot tea down Malcolm's throat. Tarring and Feathering was a typical). In the United States of AmericaThe United States of America also referred to as the United States U. America ¹ or the States is a federal republic in central North America, stretching from the Atlantic in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west. It shares land borders with Canada in, for example, there has never been the punishment of drawing and quarteringDrawing and quartering was part of the penalty anciently ordained in England for treason. It is considered by many to be the epitome of "cruel" punishment and was reserved for traitors because treason was deemed more heinous than murder and other capital, because of the Bill of Rights. However, by the twentieth century, many people came to consider capital punishment to be cruel and unusual punishment. Some states have prohibited the death penalty on a state-by-state basis, some prohibiting execution by electrocution, by hanging, etc. However, there have been some cases which have resulted in the prohibition of the death penalty in certain circumstances, such as the execution of a minor under the age of 16, or of a mentally handicapped person. In the European Union, on the other hand, prohibition of the death penalty has been made a fundamental condition which must be passed into the law of states hoping to join.
Some people believe that mandatory minimum sentence s may constitute cruel and unusual punishment in some cases. In the United States, arguments of this type have generally been rejected by the United States Supreme Court.
Read more »