How has the Supreme Court interpreted the Eighth Amendment's prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment in recent years? Explain.
What will be an ideal response?
The Supreme Court has typically let Congress and the state legislatures determine the appropriate penalties for crime. It has upheld some challenged state punishments in high profile cases, and some states continue to have extremely high incarceration and execution rates. With regard to the death penalty, however, the Court has placed some limits on states' ability to execute prisoners, particularly mentally retarded and juvenile ones. The Court has also banned life-without-parole sentences for juveniles and the mentally ill.
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Social protests are used by groups that ______.
a. have no respect for the law b. are in a hurry to bring change and do not want to use more traditional methods c. are shut out of more traditional avenues of political action d. have the sympathy of the public e. only want to take advantage of the media coverage that traditional techniques cannot generate
The rights the founders believed were essential to maintaining a representative democracy included all of the following EXCEPT ______.
a. establishment of religion b. the right to bear arms c. freedom of speech d. freedom of the press e. the right to assemble and petition the government for redress of grievances
Third-generation human rights sought to protect ______.
a. the aristocracy b. individuals c. the working class d. minority groups
Foreign threats under the Articles of Confederation included all of the following EXCEPT
A) British impressment of U.S. sailors into the Royal Navy. B) the Spanish claims to lands in the south. C) a French blockade of trade with the West Indies. D) a disputed boundary with Canada. E) an attempted invasion by France.