Amendments V, VIII, X, and XIV relate to capital punishment. People believe that these amendments either support or condemn the practice of capital punishment on the grounds of its constitutionality or whether it is a cruel and unusual punishment. The Bill of Rights contains the Fifth, Eighth, and Tenth Amendments, and it is the government's responsibility to protect these rights.
Amendment V
"No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a resentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.
- The Fifth Amendment
The Fifth Amendment ensures that people will not be executed without "due process of law" or a fair trial by jury, ensuring that death sentences are fair. |
This video describes the purpose of the jury and due process of law.
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"The Fifth Amendment can be read as evidence that the Founders inherently supported the death penalty... If a person can never be deprived of life by the state, why is the clause 'without due process of law' necessary?... By including a phrase that allowed for the possibility that citizens might be denied their life, liberty, or property if certain procedural safeguards were in place--'due process'--they implied that individual life might be taken by the state under the right circumstances."
- William Richardson, Department of Political Science, South Dakota University
Amendment VIII
The eighth amendment is commonly used as an argument against capital punishment by defendants in court cases.
"Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted."
- The Eighth Amendment
"Fines, imprisonment and even execution may be imposed depending upon the enormity of the crime, but any technique outside the bounds of these traditional penalties is constitutionally suspect... The [Eighth] Amendment must draw its meaning from the evolving standards of decency that mark the progress of a maturing society." - Trop v. Dulles, 1958, court case pertaining to
the Eighth Amendment |
"The death penalty is the ultimate denial of human rights. It is the premeditated and cold-blooded killing of a human being by the state in the name of justice. It violates the right to life as proclaimed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It is the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment." - Amnesty International
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Amendment X
"The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States, respectively, or to the people."
- The Tenth Amendment
States have the right to enforce laws not stated in the Constitution. Therefore, states are allowed to choose to enforce the death penalty and create capital offenses, as shown in the table.
"The powers delegated by the proposed Constitution to the federal government are few and defined. Those which are to remain in the State governments are numerous and indefinite." - James Madison, 4th United States President,
"Father of the Constitution" |
Amendment XIV
"All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." - The Fourteenth Amendment
Under the fourteenth amendment, all citizens of the U.S. have equal protection. |
"Juries mete out the death penalty unfairly. The implementation of capital punishment includes discrimination on the basis of race, gender, and social class. That bias violates the Fourteenth Amendment's guarantee that all persons will have equal protection under the law."
- Ivan Eland, American defense analyst and author
Dorothy Beasley, Assistant Attorney General of Georgia, on importance of the Fourteenth Amendment in Furman v. Georgia
(Transcript to the right)
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"The question in this case is and particularly in the case now before the Court that is Furman versus Georgia involves the Fourteenth Amendment first. - Argument of Dorothy Beasley, Furman v. Georgia
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