Others say they were assaulted by officers themselves. The Eighth Amendment, which bars "cruel and unusual punishments," was intended by the founders as a bulwark against prisoner abuse. Over the ...

the Supreme Court ruled that inmates on death row could make last-minute claims that the chemicals in lethal injections are too painful and violate the Constitution's Eighth Amendment.

WASHINGTON, DC – Letters by prisoners illustrate unusual and cruel punishments the incarcerated are facing despite the U.S.

Together, they changed the legal landscape of the Eighth Amendment — the foundational constitutional protection against "cruel and unusual punishments." Heavy criticism soon followed — from ...

Four years ago, a Ninth Circuit panel ruled (in Martin v. City of Boise) that “the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment bars a city from prosecuting people criminally ...

January 23, 2025 • The Eighth Amendment. What is cruel and unusual punishment? Who gets to define and decide its boundaries? And how did the Constitution's authors imagine it might change?

How a Clinton-era law, the PLRA, hollowed out the Eighth Amendment. Nearly three years into Bill Clinton's first term as president, US senators took to the floor to tackle an urgent concern.

Johnson that a city does not violate the Eighth Amendment’s ban on cruel and unusual punishments when it enforces against homeless individuals its ordinance that bars encampments on public property.