Overview
Today, our interest in ""cruel and unusual punishment"" centers on the death penalty. But, as made clear in this book, it has been viewed with different perspective in different ages. Medieval Christians saw the death penalty as a means of obtaining God's grace and treated execution with reverence whereas earlier and later generations saw it as a correction to vice and deterrent to others. Rarely has it been seen as retribution. And although the framers wording, with a one word exception, is copied from the English Bill of Rights of 1689, the framers were working with a different premise - an evolving notion of crime, proportionality and punishment. In this book, Robert McWhirter traces the complicated history that led to the juxtaposition of ""cruel"" and ""punishment"" in the Eighth Amendment from early Judaic law to the present day. This lively account is written for the interested citizen, as well as the civics student. Along the way there are surprising, and interesting, diversions into how the events and personalities surrounding the Eighth Amendment have appeared in literature, film, sports and popular culture. This book was originally published as chapter eight of Bills, Quills, and Stills: An Annotated, Illustrated, and Illuminated History of the Bill of Rights.
Full Product Details
Author: Robert J McWhirter
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing (SC)
Imprint: Arcadia Publishing (SC)
Edition: Annotated edition
Dimensions:
Width: 17.80cm
, Height: 0.40cm
, Length: 25.40cm
Weight: 0.154kg
ISBN: 9781945682087
ISBN 10: 1945682086
Pages: 53
Publication Date: 20 October 2017
Audience:
General/trade
,
General
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: Available To Order
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Reviews
Encyclopedic in its scope and presentation of the story behind the enactment of the Bill of Rights. From start to finish, Bob McWhirter shows himself to be an excellent guide for an enjoyable journey into the past. --George T Anagnost Arizona Attorney magazine A great book that appeals to all ages interested in an unbiased history of our country's founding fathers and their objectives. It has great coverage of famous British cases, whose outcome was abhorred by the American colonists and who, as a result, insisted that the constitution provided express safeguards prohibiting similar violations of individual rights in America. --Richard Coffinger Attorney-at-Law
Author Information
Robert McWhirter is an acknowledged authority on the Constitution and the Bill of Rights on which he has written and lectured widely both to academic and legal audiences as well as civic institutions. His earlier work was published by the American Bar Association. He appears regularly on Arizona Public Television's Horizon program explaining the legality and history surrounding the challenges to, and interpretation of, the Constitution. Robert also specializes in criminal law on which he has published widely. He presently practices as a criminal defense lawyer in Phoenix, Arizona.
