However, the amendment is not anywhere near definitive enough. As a result, it has been largely ignored in the past and is likely to be increasingly abused in the future. Let's face it, any punishment is likely to be considered "cruel" by somebody; if it isn't, it's not punishment. As soon as the Supreme Court rules accordingly, we will have to set all our prisoners free.
"Unusual" is an even more ambiguous term. Effectively, this prohibits our judges from meting out creative sentences that fit the crime, such as requiring a litterbug to pick up litter or a vandal to do repair work. Since such sentences can be considered unusual, they are unconstitutional, and the judge must stick to prison time for sentences.
If it is considered necessary to replace this amendment with another, I would suggest some ironclad guidelines on what is permissible and what isn't. For example, it may make sense to prohibit punishments that leave permanent physical disabilities. The anti-death penalty buffs would love this, as death most definitely results in permanent disability!
In the case of violent crime, it might also make sense to stipulate that the punishment is allowed to be comparable to the crime. If the convict tortured his victims for days before killing them, maybe there should be nothing unconstitutional about torturing him for days and then killing him!
However, I would probably prefer not to address this issue at all in the Constitution. There are enough checks and balances in our system of government to insure that convicts are not mistreated, but we definitely could use a little more leeway in how they are punished!
As far as bail is concerned, I would propose the following: the whole concept of bail be eliminated, as it is effectively punishing those who have not been convicted of anything. Instead, we inform the suspect that he is ordered to appear in court on the date specified. If he does not, we arrest him on charges of failure to appear, convict him immediately on that charge, and throw him in jail. He will then be available when needed for the next trial.
I would also suggest that the entire concept of fines be
abandoned,
as they are inherently unfair; a speeding ticket means less to Bill
Gates
than it does to someone on welfare, and there's no way to fix that.
Instead
of charging fines, we should impose community service requirements.
Having
to work 20 hours helping the community is every bit as effective on
Bill
Gates as on anyone else, and would get the community fixed up at the
same
time.
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Of course, if you have questions or comments, you are welcome to send e-mail to me at "palmk at nettally dot com".