NationMaster - Encyclopedia: 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 King William III and Queen Mary II who were then the joint rulers of England following the 'Glorious Revolution' of 1688. Black Sun Empire is the stage name of a team of Dutch disc jockeys and drum and bass (mostly darkstep and neurofunk) producers Rene Verdult and brothers Milan and Micha Heyboer. ... Cruel And Unusual is a two-disc album by the Drum and Bass/Jungle band Black Sun Empire, released in 2005. ... Image File history File links Scale_of_justice_2. ... Criminal procedure refers to the legal process for adjudicating claims that someone has violated the criminal law. ... Headline text The rights of the accused is a class of rights in that apply to a person in the time period between when they are formally accused of a crime and when they are either convicted or acquitted. ... The Right to a fair trial is an essential right in all countries respecting the rule of law. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Jury. ... The Right to a fair trial is an essential right in all countries respecting the rule of law. ... Presumption of innocence is a legal right that the accused in criminal trials has in many modern nations. ... In United States constitutional law, the exclusionary rule is a legal principle holding that evidence collected or analyzed in violation of the U.S. Constitution is inadmissible for a criminal prosecution in a court of law (that is, it cannot be used in a criminal trial). ... Self-incrimination is the act of accusing oneself of a crime for which a person can then be prosecuted. ... For other uses, see Double jeopardy (disambiguation). ... In law, a verdict indicates the judgment of a case before a court of law. ... In criminal law, an acquittal is the legal result of a verdict of not guilty, or some similar end of the proceeding that terminates it with prejudice without a verdict of guilty being entered against the accused. ... In law, a conviction is the verdict which results when a court of law finds a defendant guilty of committing a crime. ... Not proven is a verdict available to a court in Scotland. ... In U.S. law, a directed verdict is an order from the judge presiding over a jury trial that one side or the other wins. ... In law, a sentence forms the final act of a judge-ruled process, and also the symbolic principal act connected to his function. ... A mandatory sentence is a judicial decision setting the punishment to be inflicted on a person convicted of a crime where judicial discretion is limited by law. ... A suspended sentence is a legal construct. ... A custodial sentence is a judicial sentence, imposing a punishment (and hence the resulting punishment itself) consisting of mandatory custody of the convict, either in prison (incarceration) or in some other closed therapeutic and/or (re)educational institution, such as a reformatory, (maximum security) psychiatry or drug detoxication (especially cold... In the Canadian legal system, the dangerous offender designation allows the courts to impose an indefinite sentence on a convicted person, regardless of whether the crime carries a life sentence or not. ... Capital punishment, or the death penalty, is the execution of a convicted criminal by the state as punishment for crimes known as capital crimes or capital offences. ... An execution warrant is a warrant which authorizes the execution or capital punishment of an individual. ... It has been suggested that Medical parole be merged into this article or section. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Under British criminal law, a tariff is the minimum period that a person serving an indefinite prison sentence must serve before that person becomes eligible for parole. ... Life licence is a term used in the British criminal justice system for the conditions under which a prisoner sentenced to life in jail may be released. ... A miscarriage of justice is primarily the conviction and punishment of a person for a crime that he or she did not commit. ... Exoneration occurs when a perason waho hars beoen convaicted osf ah crieme irs laeter proved to have been innocent of that crime. ... For the Breton religious festivals, see Pardon (ceremony). ... The term criminal law, sometimes called penal law, refers to any of various bodies of rules in different jurisdictions whose common characteristic is the potential for unique and often severe impositions as punishment for failure to comply. ... The law of evidence governs the use of testimony (e. ... Civil procedure is the body of law that sets out the process that courts will follow when hearing cases of a civil nature (a civil action, as opposed to a criminal action). ... Image File history File links Question_book-3. ... The Bill of Rights 1689 is an English Act of Parliament with the long title An Act Declaring the Rights and Liberties of the Subject and Settling the Succession of the Crown and known colloquially in the UK as the Bill of Rights. ... Year 1689 (MDCLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 10-day slower Julian calendar). ... William III (14 November 1650 â€“ 8 March 1702) was the Prince of Orange from his birth, Stadtholder of the main provinces of the Dutch Republic from 28 June 1672, King of England and King of Ireland from 13 February 1689, and King of Scots (under the name William II) from... Mary II (30 April 1662â€“28 December 1694) reigned as Queen of England and Ireland from 13 February 1689, and as Queen of Scots (as Mary II of Scotland) from 11 April 1689 until her death. ... For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ... The Glorious Revolution, also called the Revolution of 1688, was the overthrow of King James II of England (VII of Scotland) in 1688 by a union of Parliamentarians and the Dutch stadtholder William III of Orange-Nassau (William of Orange), who as a result ascended the English throne as William... Year 1688 (MDCLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Sunday of the 10-day slower Julian calendar). ...

These exact words later appeared in the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution (1787). The British Slavery Amelioration Act of 1798 also used the term, forbidding slave owners from using "Cruel and unusual punishment" on slaves in the British Caribbean colonies. Amendment VIII (the Eighth Amendment) of the United States Constitution, which is part of the U.S. Bill of Rights, prohibits excessive bail or fines, as well as cruel and unusual punishment. ... Year 1787 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... Year 1798 (MDCCXCVIII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Friday of the 11-day slower Julian calendar). ... Roadtown, Tortola The term British West Indies refers to territories in and around the Caribbean which were colonised by Great Britain. ...

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 (1950). The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (1982) also contains this fundamental right in section 12 and it is to be found again in Article Four (quoting the European Convention verbatim) of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (2000). It is also found in Article 16 of the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. For other uses, see Torture (disambiguation). ... The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (abbreviated UDHR) is an advisory declaration adopted by the United Nations General Assembly (A/RES/217, 10 December 1948 at Palais de Chaillot, Paris). ... The United Nations General Assembly (GA, UNGA) is one of the five principal organs of the United Nations and the only one in which all member nations have equal representation. ... is the 344th day of the year (345th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1948 (MCMXLVIII) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the 1948 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... â€œECHRâ€ redirects here. ... Year 1950 (MCML) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Charter, signed by Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau in 1981. ... Year 1982 (MCMLXXXII) was a common year starting on Friday (link displays the 1982 Gregorian calendar). ... Section Twelve of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, as part of the Charter and of the Constitution of Canada, is a legal rights section that protects an individuals freedom from cruel and unusual punishments in Canada. ... The 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. ... Year 2000 (MM) was a leap year starting on Saturday. ...

Definition

In general the interpretation of each of the two words is in keeping with the basic legal maxim that the "punishment should fit the crime".

The term "cruel" is necessarily flexible according to the circumstances, since all punishments are inherently cruel to some greater or lesser degree. The "unusual" provision has proven easier to interpret: providing that persons will not be subjected to arbitrary, humorous, or capricious punishment outside the normal course of the law (for example, tarring and feathering). Another way to make the punishment usual is to simply use it more often. Tarring and feathering is a physical punishment, at least as old as the Crusades, used to enforce formal justice in feudal Europe and informal justice in Europe and its colonies in the early modern period, as well as the early American frontier, mostly as a type of mob vengeance (compare...

Though it has been a part of the law in the United States of America since its inception,^[1]^[2]^[3] by the twentieth century many people in the U.S. came to consider capital punishment per se to be a cruel and unusual punishment.^[4] As of 2006, twelve U.S. states have legislatively abolished the death penalty,^{[citation needed]} and others have specifically prohibited certain methods of execution, e.g. by electrocution, by hanging, etc. The Supreme Court has ruled that the application of the death penalty, in certain circumstances — such as the execution of a minor under the age of 18, or of a mentally handicapped person, is unconstitutional, regardless of the existence of other aggravating circumstances. The Court also ruled in 1983 that the imposition of a sentence of life imprisonment without parole for a non-violent felony may constitute cruel and unusual punishment, although a subsequent decision represented a partial retreat from that position.^{[citation needed]} Motto: (traditional) In God We Trust (official, 1956â€“present) Anthem: The Star-Spangled Banner Capital Washington, D.C. Largest city New York City Official language(s) None at the federal level; English de facto Government Federal Republic - President George W. Bush (R) - Vice President Dick Cheney (R) Independence - Declared - Recognized... (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s The 20th century lasted from 1901 to 2000 in the Gregorian calendar (often from (1900 to 1999 in common usage). ... Capital punishment, or the death penalty, is the execution of a convicted criminal by the state as punishment for crimes known as capital crimes or capital offences. ... Death Penalty World Map Color Key: Blue: Abolished for all crimes Green: Abolished for crimes not committed in exceptional circumstances (such as crimes committed in time of war) Orange: Abolished in Practice Red: Legal Form of Punishment Execution of a soldier of the 8th Infantry at Prescott, Arizona, 1877 Execution... The electric chair is an execution method in which the person being put to death is strapped to a chair and electrocuted through electrodes placed on the body. ... Hanging is the suspension of a person by a ligature, usually a cord wrapped around the neck, causing death. ... The Supreme Court Building, Washington, D.C. The Supreme Court Building, Washington, D.C., (large image) The Supreme Court of the United States, located in Washington, D.C., is the highest court (see supreme court) in the United States; that is, it has ultimate judicial authority within the United States... In law, the term minor (also infant or infancy) is used to refer to a person who is under the age in which one legally assumes adulthood and is legally granted rights afforded to adults in society. ... The Scream, the famous painting commonly thought of as depicting the experience of mental illness. ... Life imprisonment is a sentence of imprisonment for a serious crime, nominally for the entire remaining life of the prisoner, but in fact for a period which varies between jurisdictions: many countries have a maximum possible period of time (usually 50 years) a prisoner may be incarcerated, or require the...

At the time the Eighth Amendment was written, capital punishment was in common use, in America, in Great Britain, and in Western Europe. There also existed punishments that were generally considered cruel and unusual, such as hanging, drawing, and quartering; burning at the stake; and impalement. Amendment VIII (the Eighth Amendment) of the United States Constitution, which is part of the U.S. Bill of Rights, prohibits excessive bail or fines, as well as cruel and unusual punishment. ... Seventeenth century print of the execution, by hanging, drawing and quartering, of the members of the Gunpowder plot. ... Burning of two sodomites at the stake (execution of individuals by fire. ... For other uses, see impale. ...

In the European Union, on the other hand, prohibition of the death penalty has been made a fundamental condition which must either be passed into the law of states hoping to join, or, as in the case of Latvia, its use be subject to a moratorium. The Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (which currently carries no legal standing) states in its second article that "Everyone has the right to life. No one shall be condemned to the death penalty, or executed." The UN Moratorium on the Death Penalty is a proposal supported by several countries and NGOs before the General Assembly of the United Nation. ... The 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. ...

History

For most of recorded history, capital punishments were often cruel and inhuman. Severe historical penalties include breaking wheel, boiling to death, flaying, slow slicing, disembowelment, crucifixion, impalement, crushing, stoning, execution by burning, dismemberment, sawing, decapitation, scaphism, or necklacing.^[5] For the history of Earth which includes the time before human existence, see History of Earth. ... The breaking at the wheel) was a form of punishment used during the english civil war. ... Boiling to death is a method of capital punishment. ... Michelangelos Last Judgment - Saint Bartholomew holding the knife of his martyrdom and his flayed skin Flaying is the removal of skin from the body. ... Slow slicing (Simplified Chinese: ; Traditional Chinese: ; Pinyin: , alternately transliterated Ling Chi or Leng Tche), also translated as the slow process, the lingering death, or death by/of a thousand cuts, is a form of execution used in China from roughly CE 900 to its abolition in 1905. ... Disembowelment is evisceration, or the removing of some or all of vital organs, usually from the abdomen. ... For other uses, see Crucifixion (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see impale. ... Death by crushing or pressing is a method of execution which has a long history during which the techniques used varied greatly from place to place. ... Stoning, or lapidation, refers to a form of capital punishment execution method carried out by an organized group throwing stones or rocks at the person they mean to execute. ... Jan Hus burned at the stake Execution by burning has a long history as a method of punishment for crimes such as treason, heresy and witchcraft (burning, however, was actually less common than hanging, pressing, or drowning as a punishment for witchcraft). ... Dismemberment is the act of cutting, tearing, pulling, wrenching or otherwise removing, the limbs of a living thing. ... Delinquent sawed in two (Drawing by Lucas Cranach the Elder) Delinquent sawed in two while other condemned watch (Mediaeval drawing) Example of a two-man saw used for execution This article describes the method of execution. ... Decapitation (from Latin, caput, capitis, meaning head), or beheading, is the removal of a living organisms head. ... Scaphism, also known as the boats, is an ancient Persian method of execution designed to inflict torturous death. ... Necklacing (sometimes metonymically called Necklace) refers to the practice of execution carried out by forcing a rubber tire, filled with gasoline, around a victims chest and arms, and setting it on fire. ...

Slow slicing, or death by/of a thousand cuts, was a form of execution used in China from roughly 900 AD to its abolition in 1905. According to apocryphal lore, língchí began when the torturer, wielding an extremely sharp knife, began by putting out the eyes, rendering the condemned incapable of seeing the remainder of the torture and, presumably, adding considerably to the psychological terror of the procedure. Successive rather minor cuts chopped off ears, nose, tongue, fingers, toes, and such before proceeding to cuts that removed large collops of flesh from more sizable parts, e.g., thighs and shoulders. The entire process was said to last three days, and to total 3,600 cuts. The heavily carved bodies of the deceased were then put on a parade for a show in the public.^[6] Execution is a synonym for the actioning of something, of putting something into effect. ...

Impalement was a method of torture and execution whereby a person is pierced with a long stake. The penetration can be through the sides, from the rectum, or through the mouth. This method would lead to rapid, painful, death. Often, the victim was hoisted into the air after partial impalement. Gravity and the victim's own struggles would cause him to slide down the pole, especially if the pole were on a wagon carrying war prizes and prisoner. Death could take many days. Impalement was frequently practiced in Asia and Europe throughout the Middle Ages. Vlad III Dracula, who learned the method of killing by impalement while staying in Constantinople, the capital of the Ottoman Empire, as a prisoner, and Ivan the Terrible have passed into legend as major users of the method.^[7] For other uses, see Torture (disambiguation). ... Death Penalty World Map Color Key: Blue: Abolished for all crimes Green: Abolished for crimes not committed in exceptional circumstances (such as crimes committed in time of war) Orange: Abolished in Practice Red: Legal Form of Punishment Execution of a soldier of the 8th Infantry at Prescott, Arizona, 1877 Execution... Look up Stake in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... The rectum (from the Latin rectum intestinum, meaning straight intestine) is the final straight portion of the large intestine in some mammals, and the gut in others, terminating in the anus. ... For other uses, see Mouth (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Asia (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Europe (disambiguation). ... The Middle Ages formed the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three ages: the classical civilization of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and modern times, beginning with the Renaissance. ... Portrait of Vlad III in the Innsbruck Ambras Castle Vlad III Basarab (other names: Vlad Å¢epeÅŸ IPA: in Romanian, meaning Vlad the Impaler; Vlad Draculea in Romanian, transliterated as Vlad Dracula in some documents; KazÄ±klÄ± Bey in Turkish, meaning Impaler Prince), (November or December, 1431 â€“ December 1476). ... Istanbul (Turkish: , Greek: , historically Byzantium and later Constantinople; see other names) is Turkeys most populous city, and its cultural and financial center. ... Motto Ø¯ÙˆÙ„Øª Ø§Ø¨Ø¯ Ù…Ø¯Øª Devlet-i Ebed-mÃ¼ddet (The Eternal State) Anthem Ottoman imperial anthem Borders in 1683, see: list of territories Capital SÃ¶ÄŸÃ¼t (1299â€“1326) Bursa (1326â€“1365) Edirne (1365â€“1453) Constantinople (1453â€“1922) Government Monarchy Sultans - 1281â€“1326 (first) Osman I - 1918â€“22 (last) Mehmed VI Grand Viziers - 1320... Ivan IV (August 25, 1530–March 18, 1584) was the first ruler of Russia to assume the title of tsar. ...

Breaking wheel was a torturous capital punishment device used in the Middle Ages and early modern times for public execution by cudgeling to death, especially in France and Germany. In France the condemned were placed on a cart-wheel with their limbs stretched out along the spokes over two sturdy wooden beams. The wheel was made to slowly revolve. Through the openings between the spokes, the executioner hit the victim with an iron hammer that could easily break the victim's bones. This process was repeated several times per limb. Once his bones were broken, he was left on the wheel to die. It could take hours, even days, before shock and dehydration caused death. The punishment was abolished in Germany as late as 1827.^[8] Capital punishment, or the death penalty, is the execution of a convicted criminal by the state as punishment for crimes known as capital crimes or capital offences. ... The Middle Ages formed the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three ages: the classical civilization of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and modern times, beginning with the Renaissance. ... â€œTruncheonâ€ redirects here. ...

Lethal Injection was challenged by prisoners on death row as being a form of cruel and unusual punishment, mainly owing to the combinations of drugs present in the Lethal Injection.

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Definition