Topic: Eighth Amendment
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US Supreme Court: Big 21st century rulings
The past 12 years have seen significant US high court decisions with wide-ranging effects on personal freedoms and national politics. Another key ruling is expected this summer on President Obama's health-care reform law. Here are some recent top rulings, all decided by 5-to-4 votes.
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Opinion Four ways to relieve overcrowded prisons
America’s addiction to incarceration as a curb on crime must end. The evidence is staggering. Prison overcrowding is ubiquitous and shows few signs of abating: Between 1970 and 2005, the nation’s inmate population grew by 700 percent.In California, 54 prisoners may share a single toilet and 200 prisoners may live in a single gymnasium. As a result, the Supreme Court ruled in May 2011 that California prisons were in violation of the Eighth Amendment and its prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment. Here, attorney Arjun Sethi offers four solutions to improve the overcrowded US prison system.
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Supreme Court rejects Idaho case on prohibiting the insanity defense
Idaho is one of four states that do not permit criminal defendants to claim they are innocent by reason of insanity. On Monday, the US Supreme Court declined to take a case testing whether an insanity defense is a constitutional right.
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Supreme Court bars mandatory life sentences for juveniles
Supreme Court ruling aims to give judges and juries an opportunity to consider 'mitigating circumstances' before sentencing a juvenile offender to life in prison, without possibility of parole.
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Supreme Court justices appear poised to sweep aside entire health-care law
Conservative Supreme Court justices argued Wednesday morning that without the individual mandate, the entire 2,700-page health-care law must be invalidated in full.
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Supreme Court lets stand ruling that sides with transgender inmates
A Wisconsin law barring state funding for hormone treatments or sex-change operations for transgender prisoners was struck down, a ruling upheld on appeal. The Supreme Court declined the case.
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US Supreme Court: Big 21st century rulings
The past 12 years have seen significant US high court decisions with wide-ranging effects on personal freedoms and national politics. Another key ruling is expected this summer on President Obama's health-care reform law. Here are some recent top rulings, all decided by 5-to-4 votes.
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Do 14-year-old killers deserve life without parole? Supreme Court hears cases.
Supreme Court Justice Kennedy is seen as the potential swing vote in two cases questioning whether life without parole for 14-year-old killers is cruel and unusual punishment.
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Underwear bomber gets life: He never expressed doubt or remorse, judge says
Underwear bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, sentenced to multiple life sentences, declared in federal court in Detroit: 'Mujahideen are proud to kill in the name of God.'
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US to seek life sentence for underwear bomber, saying he remains a threat
The sentencing hearing for the so-called underwear bomber, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, takes place Thursday. Prosecutors argue that he remains willing to carry out another martyrdom mission.
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Opinion Four ways to relieve overcrowded prisons
America’s addiction to incarceration as a curb on crime must end. The evidence is staggering. Prison overcrowding is ubiquitous and shows few signs of abating: Between 1970 and 2005, the nation’s inmate population grew by 700 percent.In California, 54 prisoners may share a single toilet and 200 prisoners may live in a single gymnasium. As a result, the Supreme Court ruled in May 2011 that California prisons were in violation of the Eighth Amendment and its prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment. Here, attorney Arjun Sethi offers four solutions to improve the overcrowded US prison system.
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Opinion Four ways to relieve overcrowded prisons
Finally, America is beginning to tackle overcrowded prisons, prompted by financially strapped states that can no longer afford them. The road to prison reform, and less crowding, includes revamping 'three strikes' laws, as in California, and limiting pre-trial detention.
12/29/2011 12:51 pm -
How can cash-strapped California comply with Supreme Court ruling on prisons?
Gov. Brown, anticipating the Supreme Court order to California to reduce its prison population, signed a measure transferring inmates to county jails. But voters need to approve funding.
05/26/2011 05:02 pm -
Supreme Court orders California to slash prison population by more than 30,000
In a 5-to-4 ruling, the Supreme Court says severe overcrowding in the prisons violates the Eighth Amendment ban on cruel and unusual punishment. A minority opinion offers a sharp dissent.
05/23/2011 09:40 pm -
Alleged 'WikiLeaker' Bradley Manning sent to less restrictive prison
Under pressure from human rights groups, the Defense Department moved Bradley Manning, charged with giving classified documents to WikiLeaks, to the Fort Leavenworth military prison in Kansas.
04/21/2011 04:24 pm -
California, at Supreme Court, fights judicial order on prison overcrowding
The Supreme Court hears arguments Tuesday in a California prison case. At issue is whether a three-judge court overstepping its authority when it ordered inmates released to curb overcrowding.
11/30/2010 09:18 am -
Death row inmate Troy Davis: Judge upholds conviction
The Supreme Court had ordered a special hearing to determine whether Troy Davis is innocent. A federal judge held the hearing and concluded Tuesday that the death row inmate is guilty.
08/24/2010 08:56 pm -
Opinion 15 questions for Elena Kagan
Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan started answering questions from senators today. Here's what she can expect.
06/29/2010 11:32 am -
Elena Kagan: Would she turn Supreme Court into We the People?
Elena Kagan, if confirmed as the next Supreme Court justice, would shift the balance dramatically – with three women and a Jewish-Catholic bloc. So would the high court look like We the People?
06/25/2010 12:18 pm -
Ronnie Lee Gardner: Is Utah firing squad a more humane execution?
Ronnie Lee Gardner, who is scheduled to be executed by firing squad in Utah just past midnight local time Friday, raises questions about the relative humaneness of methods of execution.
06/17/2010 09:18 pm -
Ronnie Lee Gardner execution: firing squads are humane say some experts
Ronnie Lee Gardner execution: Some experts say that firing squads are more humane than lethal injection.
06/16/2010 03:34 pm -
The Monitor's View Supreme Court moves in the right direction on juvenile sentence
It bans life without parole for crimes short of murder. By doing so, the Supreme Court confirms that youths do not think or behave like adults, and should not be treated like adults under the law.
05/18/2010 04:15 pm -
Supreme Court puts limits on life sentences for juveniles
Juveniles who commit crimes that aren't fatal to their victims cannot receive life sentences without possibility of parole, the Supreme Court ruled 6-to-3 on Monday.
05/17/2010 02:50 pm -
Supreme Court rejects suit that argued excessive force by police
A man in West Palm Beach, Fla., died while police tried to restrain him. His mother filed a suit that claimed her son was the victim of excessive force by police officers, but the Supreme Court dismissed the case Monday.
02/22/2010 02:23 pm -
Decoder Wire Bill of Rights Day: what Obama says about it
Bill of Rights Day commemorates Dec. 15, 1791 – when the first 10 amendments to the US Constitution took effect. In the past week, Obama issued a proclamation for the day.
12/15/2009 02:27 pm -
Supreme Court refuses case on Guantanamo detainees and torture
The case of four Britons, held two years by the US, sought to clarify legal protections for Guantanamo detainees, including regarding torture and harsh government tactics. Supreme Court justices on Monday declined to hear the case.
12/14/2009 12:50 pm -
Texas judge refuses bid to make child porn users pay damages
A federal judge in Texas Monday sentenced a man to two years in prison for possession of child porn, but refused to make him pay $3.4 million in restitution to the girl in the pictures. Prosecuting lawyers called the ruling a setback for victims of child porn.
12/10/2009 12:00 am
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