8th amendment Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

8th amendment - Research Paper Example Here, courts need to look for factors on how to change the standards of the community and also come up with the independent evaluation if the statutes are reasonable. For instance, in the case of Furman V. Georgia, the jury invalidated the death penalty regulation at that time because they constituted the unusual punishment and cruelty against the eighth amendment. The eighth amendment is an American amendment that bars or prevents the government from practices that may result in the violation of the freedom of people (Smith, 2010). It prevents the government from imposing cruel and unusual punishment such as torture and excess bails and fines. This amendment was adopted as early as 1791. Death sentence is a practice of the state where people are sentenced to death due to the magnitude of their crime. It is also commonly referred to as capital punishment. Overtime death penalty was not highly considered as a violation of this amendment. There were no vivid cases that had been presented there before to show the brutality of the death sentence and how it imposed cruel and unusual punishment to people. This was until 1972 when a United State Supreme Court decision called the Furman v. Georgia was ruled. The case had to be presented by three black men including Furman who had to be sentenced to death. In this ruling, the court declared that the death penalty violated the eighth amendment. However, the court did not view the death penalty as a cruel and unusual punishment. The case led to a de facto moratorium on capital punishment. The court argued that the manner in which the death sentences were being imposed was capricious. People were being sentenced to death in an erratic manner. However, this ruling by the court was not taken well by the country. People argued that there are some crimes whose best solution was a death sentence. In 1976, the court reviewed the case due to statutes presented by

Themes in African History Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Themes in African History - Assignment Example Based on the country you are focused on for your SPA project, which of those processes applies to your country of study (Akare et al, 2001, P 52). List at least 3 things that led to that country’s independence. 1. Resistance or rebellion 2. International support from the US and UNO 3. Use of diplomacy between the Ghanaians and the British. 4. Even though African leaders would become free of â€Å"European political control†, what sometimes didn’t change in Africa, especially in regards to their ongoing relationships with their former European colonial power? [Especially with the French, but also the British]: With both the French and the British, the use of their language by Africans did not end as it had become the formal mode of communication. They also continued to be direct importers and users of the African raw materials such as gold, rubber and peanut oils (Akare,52). Chapter 14 in your textbook is written by Takyiwaa Manuh, a former professor at the University of Ghana. This chapter as a whole is devoted to theorizing human rights in Africa, and to providing a brief history of Human Rights in Africa. You have been assigned to read a small section called: Human Rights and Nation Building in POSTINDEPENDENCE AFRICA. pp. 298- to the top of page 300. This primarily covers what happened after the colonial period, during the period just following the independence of individual nations. 1. At the beginning of this section (p. 298), Takyiwaa Manuh states that the newly freed governments in the various African nations made many improvements after the colonial powers (the Europeans) left. Paraphrase in your own words what some of those overall improvements were. (List at least four areas of improvements). The major areas of improvement included education, health, poverty and labor rights.