The 8th Amendment

Since the Constitution doesn’t specifically state what counts as a cruel and unusual punishment, we have to use our intuition to know what is right. We have to draw that line ourselves and trust that gut feeling we get when we know something is wrong. Personally, I am not against capital punishment. We never want to have to come to the decision to execute someone, but when we do I think that they are done in the most peaceful and respectable way possible. It’s not like we make them feel the same pain and suffering they made their victims feel. But that’s just my opinion. Giving someone the death sentence is not an easy decision, and it should be given out with caution, a lot of time, research, and thought. Like in the case of Todd Willingham, we will never know if he really did kill his kids or not, but I don’t think he deserved to get executed in that way, without a fair trial. In my opinion, part of what makes a punishment cruel and unusual is if we can’t stand behind the decisions that we made. If we are asked if a person really deserved to be executed, we should have no doubts about our choice. We have to be completely sure that we did the right thing, not just in our heads but also in our hearts. I don’t think we’ll ever have a set definition for a cruel and unusual punishment because we all have different values and morals. While some people may believe executions are disgraceful and inhumane, others may think that it’s necessary for the safety and well being of others. These issues are not black and white; there are a lot of gray areas that we can’t set a clear line around.