Ensuring Eighth Amendment Compliance Behind Bars

INTRODUCTION

The Eighth Amendment protects against cruel and unusual punishment. Those protections apply in a corrections setting. You are a warden at a state correctional facility. You were recently assigned to a facility with a history of complaints about abuse that could constitute Eighth Amendment violations. You want to ensure that you are clear on parameters before attempting to develop policy on use of force, confinement, overcrowding, and restraint. You need to do your research.

Using research for your state in Nexis Uni, locate two cases that provide insight into parameters of cruel and unusual punishment for those in confinement. Summarize the key takeaways from the selected cases.
Explain how you would rely on that information to develop policy and procedure to ensure Eighth Amendment compliance.

APA

Peer-reviewed resoruces

Solution Preview

Eighth Amendment

Constitutional amendments have always intended to improve the conditions of American citizens in different environments. In particular, the Eighth Amendment intended to improve the standards in situations in which individuals caught in different circumstances were subjected to punishments. Consequently, poor understanding of the provisions of the amendment have made it necessary for the government, through the judiciary, to interpret the clause especially following legal suits in which the plaintiffs claimed a violation of their rights on the basis of the amendment.

(304 words)