Overview: 8th Amendmentment of the U.S. Constitution, Cruel and Unusual Punishment
"The Eighth Amendment prohibits certain types of punishment: excessive bail, excessive fines, and cruel and unusual punishments.1 As discussed in more detail in the following essays, these prohibitions were intended to protect persons convicted of crimes from government abuses of power.2 Viewed broadly, the Eighth Amendment responded to these historically grounded concerns about disproportionate or cruel punishments by attempting to ensure that punishment is proportioned to both the offender and the offense.
3 What is excessive is also determined by reference to modern standards; the Supreme Court has suggested proportionality may evolve over time.4 Out of the Eighth Amendment’s three clauses, the bar on cruel and unusual punishment has been most frequently interpreted by the Supreme Court, likely in part due to inherent ambiguities in determining what qualifies as cruel or unusual.5
The Eighth Amendment generally applies in criminal proceedings, as the most common locus of government punishment, but the Supreme Court has held the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition on excessive fines can apply in civil forfeiture proceedings, noting that the text of the amendment is not limited to criminal
cases.6 Instead, the Court said the relevant constitutional test is whether the government is imposing punishment,
focusing on the purpose of a sanction.7 In addition, although the Eighth Amendment (like the rest of the Bill of Rights) was understood originally to apply only to the federal government, the Supreme Court has held its prohibitions were incorporated in the Fourteenth Amendment’s Due Process Clause, making them applicable to states.8"
14th Amendment of U.S. Constitution
AMENDMENT XIV. CITIZENSHIP; PRIVILEGES AND IMMUNITIES; DUE PROCESS; EQUAL PROTECTION; APPOINTMENT OF REPRESENTATION; DISQUALIFICATION OF OFFICERS; PUBLIC DEBT; ENFORCEMENT
Section 1. 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.
Section 2. Representatives shall be apportioned among the several States according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each State, excluding Indians not taxed. But when the right to vote at any election for the choice of electors for President and Vice President of the United States, Representatives in Congress, the Executive and Judicial officers of a State, or the members of the Legislature thereof, is denied to any of the male inhabitants of such State, being twenty-one years of age, and citizens of the United States, or in any way abridged, except for participation in rebellion, or other crime, the basis of representation therein shall be reduced in the proportion which the number of such male citizens shall bear to the whole number of male citizens twenty-one years of age in such State.
Section 3. No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.
Section 4. The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned. But neither the United States nor any State shall assume or pay any debt or obligation incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or any claim for the loss or emancipation of any slave; but all such debts, obligations and claims shall be held illegal and void.
Section 5. The Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.
42 U.S.C.A. § 1983. Civil action for deprivation of rights
Every person who, under color of any statute, ordinance, regulation, custom, or usage, of any State or Territory or the District of Columbia, subjects, or causes to be subjected, any citizen of the United States or other person within the jurisdiction thereof to the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the Constitution and laws, shall be liable to the party injured in an action at law, suit in equity, or other proper proceeding for redress, except that in any action brought against a judicial officer for an act or omission taken in such officer's judicial capacity, injunctive relief shall not be granted unless a declaratory decree was violated or declaratory relief was unavailable. For the purposes of this section, any Act of Congress applicable exclusively to the District of Columbia shall be considered to be a statute of the District of Columbia.
First Step Act 2018
TITLE III—RESTRAINTS ON PREGNANT PRISONERS PROHIBITED SEC. 301. USE OF RESTRAINTS ON PRISONERS DURING THE PERIOD OF PREGNANCY AND POSTPARTUM RECOVERY PROHIBITED.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 317 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by inserting after section 4321 the following:
‘‘§ 4322. Use of restraints on prisoners during the period of pregnancy, labor, and postpartum recovery prohibited ‘‘
(a) PROHIBITION.—Except as provided in subsection (b), beginning on the date on which pregnancy is confirmed by a healthcare professional, and ending at the conclusion of postpartum recovery, a prisoner in the custody of the Bureau of Prisons, or in the custody of the United States Marshals Service pursuant to section 4086, shall not be placed in restraints. ‘‘
(b) EXCEPTIONS.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The prohibition under subsection (a) shall not apply if— ‘‘(A) an appropriate corrections official, or a United States marshal, as applicable, makes a determination that the prisoner— ‘‘(i) is an immediate and credible flight risk that cannot reasonably be prevented by other means; or ‘‘(ii) poses an immediate and serious threat of harm to herself or others that cannot reasonably be prevented by other means; or ‘‘(B) a healthcare professional responsible for the health and safety of the prisoner determines that the use of restraints is appropriate for the medical safety of the prisoner. S. 756—25 ‘‘
(2) LEAST RESTRICTIVE RESTRAINTS.—In the case that restraints are used pursuant to an exception under paragraph (1), only the least restrictive restraints necessary to prevent the harm or risk of escape described in paragraph (1) may be used.
‘‘(3) APPLICATION.— ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The exceptions under paragraph (1) may not be applied— ‘‘(i) to place restraints around the ankles, legs, or waist of a prisoner; ‘‘(ii) to restrain a prisoner’s hands behind her back; ‘‘(iii) to restrain a prisoner using 4-point restraints; or ‘‘(iv) to attach a prisoner to another prisoner. ‘‘(B) MEDICAL REQUEST.—Notwithstanding paragraph (1), upon the request of a healthcare professional who is responsible for the health and safety of a prisoner, a corrections official or United States marshal, as applicable, shall refrain from using restraints on the prisoner or shall remove restraints used on the prisoner. ‘‘
(c) REPORTS.—
‘‘(1) REPORT TO THE DIRECTOR AND HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONAL.—If a corrections official or United States marshal uses restraints on a prisoner under subsection (b)(1), that official or marshal shall submit, not later than 30 days after placing the prisoner in restraints, to the Director of the Bureau of Prisons or the Director of the United States Marshals Service, as applicable, and to the healthcare professional responsible for the health and safety of the prisoner, a written report that describes the facts and circumstances surrounding the use of restraints, and includes— ‘‘(A) the reasoning upon which the determination to use restraints was made; ‘‘(B) the details of the use of restraints, including the type of restraints used and length of time during which restraints were used; and ‘‘(C) any resulting physical effects on the prisoner observed by or known to the corrections official or United States marshal, as applicable.
‘‘(2) SUPPLEMENTAL REPORT TO THE DIRECTOR.—Upon receipt of a report under paragraph (1), the healthcare professional responsible for the health and safety of the prisoner may submit to the Director such information as the healthcare professional determines is relevant to the use of restraints on the prisoner.
‘‘(3) REPORT TO JUDICIARY COMMITTEES.— ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this section, and annually thereafter, the Director of the Bureau of Prisons and the Director of the United States Marshals Service shall each submit to the Judiciary Committee of the Senate and of the House of Representatives a report that certifies compliance with this section and includes the information required to be reported under paragraph (1). ‘‘(B) PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE INFORMATION.—The report under this paragraph shall not contain any personally identifiable information of any prisoner. S. 756—26 ‘‘
(d) NOTICE.—Not later than 48 hours after the confirmation of a prisoner’s pregnancy by a healthcare professional, that prisoner shall be notified by an appropriate healthcare professional, corrections official, or United States marshal, as applicable, of the restrictions on the use of restraints under this section. ‘‘
(e) VIOLATION REPORTING PROCESS.—The Director of the Bureau of Prisons, in consultation with the Director of the United States Marshals Service, shall establish a process through which a prisoner may report a violation of this section. ‘‘
(f) TRAINING.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the Bureau of Prisons and the Director of the United States Marshals Service shall each develop training guidelines regarding the use of restraints on female prisoners during the period of pregnancy, labor, and postpartum recovery, and shall incorporate such guidelines into appropriate training programs. Such training guidelines shall include— ‘‘(A) how to identify certain symptoms of pregnancy that require immediate referral to a healthcare professional; ‘‘(B) circumstances under which the exceptions under subsection (b) would apply; ‘‘(C) in the case that an exception under subsection (b) applies, how to apply restraints in a way that does not harm the prisoner, the fetus, or the neonate; ‘‘(D) the information required to be reported under subsection (c); and ‘‘(E) the right of a healthcare professional to request that restraints not be used, and the requirement under subsection (b)(3)(B) to comply with such a request.
‘‘(2) DEVELOPMENT OF GUIDELINES.—In developing the guidelines required by paragraph (1), the Directors shall each consult with healthcare professionals with expertise in caring for women during the period of pregnancy and postpartum recovery. ‘‘
(g) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section: ‘‘
(1) POSTPARTUM RECOVERY.—The term ‘postpartum recovery’ means the 12-week period, or longer as determined by the healthcare professional responsible for the health and safety of the prisoner, following delivery, and shall include the entire period that the prisoner is in the hospital or infirmary. ‘‘
(2) PRISONER.—The term ‘prisoner’ means a person who has been sentenced to a term of imprisonment pursuant to a conviction for a Federal criminal offense, or a person in the custody of the Bureau of Prisons, including a person in a Bureau of Prisons contracted facility. ‘‘
(3) RESTRAINTS.—The term ‘restraints’ means any physical or mechanical device used to control the movement of a prisoner’s body, limbs, or both.’’. S. 756—27
