Eight Amendment Pros And Cons

The Eighth Amendment of the Constitution prohibits cruel and unusual punishment, stating “excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.” Although the Eighth Amendment is typically used in relation to the discussion of the death penalty or the evaluation of a long prison sentence for a nonviolent crime, in 2011 the Supreme Court used the cruel and unusual punishment portion of the amendment to assess Brown v. Plata, a case which determined whether or not the Eighth Amendment protection is violated if prisoners are deprived of basic sustenance. In the case of Brown v. Plata, 46,000 prisoners were to be released from a federal correction facility as a result of unprecedented overcrowding within a

In addition to the narrowly drawn remedy, the PLRA also issues that remedies must embody the “least intrusive means necessary to correct the violation of the Federal right meaning that no other relief is available.” The PLRA requires courts to seriously consider adverse impacts on items such as public safety or the general operation of the criminal justice system when determining the mode of relief. For example, in this case, the release of 46,000 prisoners could place citizens in danger. The placement of indicted criminals, who were, according to their sentence, supposed to remain within the prison system, back into society could be detrimental and result in safety issues. Additionally, the release of such prisoners could impact the operation or general integrity of the criminal justice system. Although this reading of the PLRA limits the circumstances by which the court could issue structural injunctions to remedy allegedly unconstitutional prison conditions, it does not eliminate such injunctions entirely, but rather regulates them for appropriate