Cruel and unusual punishment
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{{Redirect|Cruel And Unusual|the [[Black Sun Empire]] album|Cruel And Unusual (album)}}
{{CrimPro-II}}
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The statement that the government shall not inflict '''cruel and unusual punishment''' for crimes is found in the [[English Bill of Rights]] signed in [[1689]] by King [[William III of England|William III]] and Queen [[Mary II of England|Mary II]] who were then the joint rulers of [[England]] following the '[[Glorious Revolution]]' of [[1688]].
These exact words later appeared in the [[Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution]] ([[1787]]). The British [[Slavery Amelioration Act]] of [[1798]] also used the term, forbidding slave owners from using "cruel and unusual punishment" on slaves in the [[British West Indies|British Caribbean colonies]].
Very similar words ('No one shall be subjected to [[torture]] or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment') appear in Article Five of the [[Universal Declaration of Human Rights]] adopted by the [[United Nations General Assembly]] (A/RES/217, [[December 10]], [[1948]]). The right, under a different formulation ('No one shall be subjected to [...] inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.') is found in Article Three of the [[European Convention on Human Rights]] ([[1950]]). The [[Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms]] ([[1982]]) also contains this fundamental right in [[Section Twelve of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms|section 12]] and it is to be found again in Article Four (quoting the European Convention verbatim) of the [[Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union]] ([[2000]]). It is also found in Article 16 of the [[Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment]].
==Definition==
What these words mean in practice is the subject of much legal argument.
In general the interpretation of each of the two words is in keeping with the basic legal maxim that the "punishment should fit the crime".
The term "cruel" is necessarily flexible according to the circumstances, since all punishments are inherently cruel to some greater or lesser degree.{{fact|date=July 2008}} The "unusual" provision has proven easier to interpret: providing that persons will not be subjected to arbitrary, humorous, or capricious punishment outside the normal course of the law (for example, [[tarring and feathering]]). Another way to make the punishment usual is to simply use it more often.
Though it has been a part of the law in the [[United States of America]] since its inception,<ref>"CAPITAL PUNISHMENT IN THE UNITED STATES: A Documentary History" Edited by BRYAN VILA and CYNTHIA MORRIS, GREENWOOD PRESS, Westport, Connecticut</ref><ref>"Immediately after the American Revolution, some legislators removed the death penalty as punishment for many crimes." in [http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5420 Trial and Error: Capital Punishment in U.S. History] by William S. McFeely</ref><ref>" it is understood at the time that the Eighth Amendment was not intended to stop it." in [http://www.clarkprosecutor.org/html/death/timeline.htm Capital Punishment Timeline] </ref> by the [[twentieth century]] many people in the U.S. came to consider capital punishment ''per se'' to be a cruel and unusual punishment.<ref>"June 29, 1972: The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the case of Furman v. Georgia that the death penalty as then applied constituted cruel and unusual punishment. States were ordered to stop executions." in [http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/special/penalty/813211.html U.S. capital punishment history] Houston Chronicle, February 2, 2001</ref> As of 2006, twelve U.S. states have legislatively abolished the [[death penalty]],{{fact|date=November 2007}} and others have specifically prohibited certain methods of [[execution (legal)|execution]], e.g. by [[electric chair|electrocution]], by [[hanging]], etc. The [[United States Supreme Court|Supreme Court]] has ruled that the application of the death penalty, in certain circumstances — such as the execution of a [[minor (law)|minor]] under the age of 18, or of a [[mentally handicapped]] person — is unconstitutional, regardless of the existence of other aggravating circumstances. The Court also ruled in 1983 that the imposition of a sentence of [[life imprisonment]] without parole for a non-violent felony ''may'' constitute cruel and unusual punishment, although a subsequent decision represented a partial retreat from that position.{{fact|date=November 2007}}
At the time the [[Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Eighth Amendment]] was written, capital punishment was in common use, in America, in Great Britain, and in Western Europe. There also existed punishments that were generally considered cruel and unusual, such as [[hanging, drawing, and quartering]]; [[burning at the stake]]; and [[impalement]].
In the [[European Union]], on the other hand, prohibition of the death penalty has been made a fundamental condition which must either be passed into the law of states hoping to join, or, as in the case of [[Latvia]], its use be subject to a [[UN moratorium on the death penalty|moratorium]]. The [[Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union]] (which currently carries no legal standing) states in its second article that "Everyone has the right to life. No one shall be condemned to the death penalty, or executed."
==History==
For most of recorded [[History of the world|history]], capital punishments were often cruel and inhuman. Severe historical penalties include [[breaking wheel]], [[boiling to death]], [[flaying]], [[slow slicing]], [[disembowelment]], [[crucifixion]], [[impalement]], [[crushing]], [[stoning]], [[execution by burning]], [[dismemberment]], [[sawing]], [[decapitation]], [[scaphism]], or [[necklacing]].<ref>[http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,950826,00.html Revenge Is the Mother of Invention]</ref>
'''Slow slicing''', or '''death by/of a thousand cuts''', was a form of [[execution]] used in [[China]] from roughly 900 AD to its abolition in 1905. According to apocryphal lore, ''língchí'' began when the torturer, wielding an extremely sharp knife, began by putting out the eyes, rendering the condemned incapable of seeing the remainder of the torture and, presumably, adding considerably to the psychological terror of the procedure. Successive rather minor cuts chopped off ears, nose, tongue, fingers, toes, and such before proceeding to cuts that removed large collops of flesh from more sizable parts, e.g., thighs and shoulders. The entire process was said to last three days, and to total 3,600 cuts. The heavily carved bodies of the deceased were then put on a parade for a show in the public.<ref>[http://www.manchestereventsguide.co.uk/feature/Death_by_a_Thousand_Cuts_at_Chinese_Arts_Centre_18th_January_to_23rd_March/114.html Death by a Thousand Cuts at Chinese Arts Centre 18th January to 23rd March]</ref>
'''Impalement''' was a method of [[torture]] and [[execution (legal)|execution]] whereby a person is pierced with a long [[stake]]. The penetration can be through the sides, from the [[rectum]], or through the [[mouth]]. This method would lead to rapid, painful, death. Often, the victim was hoisted into the air after partial impalement. Gravity and the victim's own struggles would cause him to slide down the pole, especially if the pole were on a wagon carrying war prizes and prisoners. Death could take many days. Impalement was frequently practiced in [[Asia]] and [[Europe]] throughout the [[Middle Ages]]. [[Vlad III Dracula]], who learned the method of killing by impalement while staying in [[Istanbul|Constantinople]], the capital of the [[Ottoman Empire]], as a prisoner, and [[Ivan the Terrible]] have passed into legend as major users of the method.<ref>[http://concise.britannica.com/ebc/article-9382120/Dracula Dracula - Britannica Concise]</ref>
'''Breaking wheel''' was a torturous [[capital punishment]] device used in the [[Middle Ages]] and early modern times for public execution by [[Club (weapon)|cudgeling]] to death, especially in France and Germany. In France the condemned were placed on a cart-wheel with their limbs stretched out along the spokes over two sturdy wooden beams. The wheel was made to slowly revolve. Through the openings between the spokes, the executioner hit the victim with an iron hammer that could easily break the victim's bones. This process was repeated several times per limb. Once his bones were broken, he was left on the wheel to die. It could take hours, even days, before shock and dehydration caused death. The punishment was abolished in Germany as late as 1827.<ref>[http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Breaking_on_the_wheel Breaking on the wheel - LoveToKnow 1911]</ref>
==See also==
* [[Capital punishment]]
* [[Security of person]] - an expanded right against less lethal conduct.<ref>Rhona K.M. Smith, ''Textbook on International Human Rights'', second edition, Oxford University Press, 2005, p. 245.</ref>
*[[Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution]]
==References==
===Inline===
{{reflist}}
===General===
*[http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/article.php?did=410&scid= History of the Death Penalty]
== External links ==
* [http://www.armfor.uscourts.gov/digest/2003dig/IB10.htm Cases in 2003]
* [http://www.armfor.uscourts.gov/digest/2002dig/IB10.htm Cases in 2002]
* [http://www.armfor.uscourts.gov/digest/2001dig/IB10.htm Cases in 2001]
* [http://www.armfor.uscourts.gov/digest/2000dig/IB10.htm Cases in 2000]
* [http://www.cidh.org/Basicos/basic2.htm American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man] (Approved by the Ninth International Conference of American States, Bogotá, Colombia, 1948)
{{Human rights}}
[[Category:Human rights abuses]]
[[Category:Penology]]
[[Category:Torture]]