1465
EIGHTH AMENDMENT
FURTHER GUARANTEES IN CRIMINAL CASES
CONTENTS
Page
Excessive Bail ............................................................................................................................
1467
Excessive Fines ..........................................................................................................................
1471
Cruel and Unusual Punishments .............................................................................................
1472
Style of Interpretation ........................................................................................................
1472
‘‘Cruel and Unusual Punishments’’ ...................................................................................
1473
Capital Punishment ...........................................................................................................
1474
Proportionality ....................................................................................................................
1493
Prisons and Punishment ....................................................................................................
1497
Limitation of Clause to Criminal Punishment .................................................................
1499
1467
1 Stack v. Boyle, 342 U.S. 1, 4 (1951). Note that in Bell v. Wolfish, 441 U.S. 520,
533 (1979), the Court enunciated a narrower view of the presumption of innocence,
describing it as ‘‘a doctrine that allocates the burden of proof in criminal trials,’’ and
denying that it has any ‘‘application to a determination of the rights of a pretrial
detainee during confinement before his trial has even begun.’’
2 Carlson v. Landon, 342 U.S. 524, 545 (1952). Justice Black in dissent accused
the Court of reducing the provision ‘‘below the level of a pious admonition’’ by say-
ing in effect that ‘‘the Amendment does no more than protect a right to bail which
Congress can grant and which Congress can take away.’’ Id. at 556.
3 The only recorded comment of a Member of Congress during d