8th Amendment Case Summary

The prisoner’s rights movement is mostly recognized for the events that occurred through the 1960s until the 1980s but it is important to review cases beforehand that led up to the movement itself. In the case of Pervear v. Massachusetts of 1866 a case was fought through the Supreme Court. The court ruled that prisoners should have no constitutional rights, which concluded the Eighth Amendment did not apply to them. The Eighth Amendment states “Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted” (US Const. Amend XIII). During the 1960s during the movement, Jones v. Cunningham debated with the Supreme Court from December until January. When it was then decided inmates could file

In Roper v. Simmons there are two issues that must be addressed, the first being the issue of moral maturity and culpability. The defense in the trial phase of this case argued that Mr. Simmons was an at an age where he was not responsible enough to fully understand the effects and consequences of his actions. The majority draws on Atkins v. Virginia to argue that this specific precedent supports their case that the death penalty should not be imposed on the mentally immature or impaired. However, an important point to be made is that the Atkins v. Virginia decision is geared towards the clinical definition of mental retardation: significant limitations that limit adaptive skills. Also, another important question to consider is the competency and premeditation of Mr. Simmons’ crime in this case. The argument that four months would be

A prisoner was prescribed medications that made him feel unpleasant, but prison officials forced him to take the medications regardless of his protests. This inmate has a case against prison officials

The United States Constitution was created in September 17, 1787 to replace the Articles of Confederation. Due to arguments between the Federalists and the Anti-Federalists, the two groups decided to add amendments to the Constitution to appease the Anti-Federalists. The condition was that two-thirds of the states had to approve the amendment before it’s added to the constitution. These conditions are still held today and there are now 27 amendments. Amendments in the constitution are important because they give natural rights to people.

The case I will be concentrating on is Tomcik vs. Ohio Dep’t of Rehabilitation and Correction in which Tomcik was imprisoned under the custody of Department of Rehabilitation and correction, based on the Legal and Ethical Issues for Health Professionals book. The problem stimulated from continuous negligence from nurses and doctors at the department, which initially was when Tomcik received a physical evaluation, included the breast examination by Dr. Evans who stated that the examination was cursory and lasted only a few seconds, which means that not much attention was presented regarding the patient and his job. The next day Tomcik noticed a lump as being about the size of a pea in her right breast, however it was not reported by Dr. Evans.

In the short story, “The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allan Poe, the author writes the story in first person perspective of the main character. The main character acknowledges that he has a disease that allows him to perceive and look at things differently in reality. This mental illness prompts him to want to kill an innocent man because the narrator loathes the old man’s eye. On the eighth night, the main character abruptly kills the old man and confesses to the police because of the panic and pride that has overcome his mind. Now, the killer is found guilty and now is being determined of what is to become of him. In this case, the calculated killer should not receive the death penalty but be given 20 years of prison with psychiatric care based on the 8th amendment, the fact that he murdered someone, and his mental illness.

The lethal injection executions illustrates a constitutional violation of the branch 's overreach as described by the 8th amendment due to its cases bring either successful in the execution or providing sufferable pain to death row inmates. One of the current problems in the Judicial branch is the use of lethal injection towards execution sessions. Lethal injection is an injection that is administered for the purpose of euthanasia and capital punishment. There are two methods of lethal injection today, one using a three drug protocol and the 2nd being the large dose of barbiturate. Lethal injection is used for capital punishment as it follows the 8th amendment we have today.

Dred Scott v. Sandford was a landmark decision by the United States Supreme Court on US labor law and constitutional law. The case was decided in 1857 with a 7–2 decision. Scholars today believe it is one of the worst Supreme Court decisions of all time. Dred Scott was born a slave in Virginia in the 1790’s. In 1830, he was bought by Dr. John Emerson. As an army officer, Dr. Emerson moved frequently. After purchasing him they moved to Illinois, where slavery had been prohibited by the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 and by state law. After a few years, Emerson moved to a fort in the Wisconsin Territory, where it was barred by the Missouri Compromise. While there, Scott met and married Harriet Robinson, a slave owned by Lawrence Taliaferro. They had two daughters together. Ownership of Harriet was transferred to Emerson. They returned back to Missouri in 1840. Three years later, Dr. John Emerson died and his widow Irene inherited his

Chief Justice Rehnquist was the judge who wrote the majority opinion for the court. He reversed the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decision that a ban on physician-assisted suicide symbolized

Passed on September 25, 1789 and ratified on December 15, 1791 by Congress, the eighth amendment has been present in the United States for quite some time. Over time, the amendment has morphed and interpreted differently. In the Constitution it states, “Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted”. In the 1990s, individuals referenced the eighth amendment when discussing capital punishment or the death penalty. Death sentences were most frequent during the 1900s, resulting in some individuals declaring that it went against the amendment (Source A). Since then, opinions on the death penalty have fluctuated, some claim that is barbarous while others deem it to be necessary. The

The Eighth Amendment prohibits inflicting cruel and unusual punishment on citizens. The judicial branch must ensure that the rights and privileges granted to American people by the Constitution are provided equally regardless of their race, sex, or sexual identification (Edmondson, 2017).

On October 14, 2015, I went to the Arizona Superior Court at Downtown Phoenix. I went to the room 503 in the Central Court Building, which is a family court. The judge that was in the room is Paul J McMurdie. He begin hearing at 1:30 P.M. and there are a 5 hearing during the day that I visited. One of the case that he hearing is FC2010-006759, Hall vs. Gollins. It is a case about child support, which one side of the parent owe the money and did not pay for the child support. But, by the time that he call out for hearing, Sandra Alicia Michelle Gollins did not present. So the judge issue an child support arrest warrant to her. The hearing end around 2:17 P.M. and me and my friend have a chance to talk with judge McMurdie. We ask him to explain about the case and the process

In this article, "Death Penalty Receives Another Blow, This Time In Pennsylvania" by Sam Wright from Above The Law, Mr. Wright discusses the controversy over death penalty and the difference between states deciding the standards of it. According to the article, two states, Connecticut and Pennsylvania both assigned a death penalty to two men who committed equally serious crimes. The problem arouses when the two men applied a relief to the courts; Connecticut accepted it and Pennsylvania didn 't. It gets even worse, when people dig deeper and find out the racial discrimination that went on behind the scenes. "African American defendants were sentenced to death at a significantly higher rate than similarly situated members of the racial groups." Continuing, about a third of African Americans who received death penalty in Philadelphia "would have not received the death penalty were they not African American." In response to the public 's outrage, Governor Wolf hastily granted reprieves "from all planned executions." The eighth amendment, which prevents cruel and unusual punishment, gained its popularity over the issue of death penalty. Due to Constitution 's broad spectrum of interpretations, whether

The Citizens United Ruling made by Supreme Court in 2010 only made the issue of money ruling the elections worse. Its main effects, stated in the video, “paved the way” for big corporations or unions to spend as much money as they feel necessary in elections and the political process. They can utilize this rule through advertisements, messages, and many different ways of communication to potential and up and coming voters. It changed the way campaigns were carried out by not only putting a bigger emphasis on the political spending from candidates and outside organizations, but also in a sense demerits the aspect of democracy, with having the amount money spent on a campaign be noticed more than the voices of the people. Voting does not really represent the country, but rather, represents the rich and powerful of the country.

The supreme decision regarding health care in prison is Estelle v. Gamble in 1976. J.W. Gamble was a state prisoner within the Texas Department of Corrections who injured his back when a cotton bale fell on him. Over the next three months, he complained of back and chest pains, was subject to administrative segregation for refusing to work because of continuing pains, he was twice refuse permission to see a doctor. So Gamble filed his complain in court, under section 1983, claim and unusual punishment in his medical care. In that case, the Supreme Court held that prison staff (whether doctors or officers or any others) violated the Eighth Amendment if they were deliberately indifferent to the serious medical needs of prisoners.