The Eight Amendment.

"Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted."



In theory, the eight amendment protects citizens from an "excessive" bail and fine and also provides protection from "cruel and unusual punishment". Although this seems just great, there is no definition to the words "excessive" and "cruel and unusual". To me, an "excessive bail" may be $5,000 but to the judge, that may seem quite reasonable. There have been many cases in which judges impose several million dollars bail on people who can clearly not come up with that sum of money. There is also no definition on what is "cruel and unusual punishment" so this is always up for interpretation. I believe that the eight amendment in theory is great, but in reality almost the entire amendment is up for interpretation and therefore really does not protect anyone.








This first video is just a funny skit on bail bonds and the 8th amendment's "excessive" bail.




In this video Michael Badnarik explains the 8th amendment and shares my same view-point on the usefulness of this amendment.