Article
Death Penalty Jurisprudence by Tallying State Legislative Enactments: Harmonizing the Eighth and Tenth Amendments
Criminal Law Bulletin
(2015)
Abstract
Whenever most legislatures in death penalty states have rejected a particular application of capital punishment, the Supreme Court has held that no state may retain that application, reasoning that any death penalty approach rejected by the majority of states is, perforce, unconstitutionally “cruel and unusual” under the Eighth Amendment. Although some laud these decisions, they ignore the States’ Tenth Amendment rights to govern themselves within broad constitutional parameters. Rather than defer to opinion polls or tallying state legislative enactments, the Court should engage in true constitutional analysis, forbidding cruel and unusual punishments, but simultaneously honoring states’ rights to govern themselves.
Keywords
- Death Penalty,
- Capital Punishment,
- Eighth Amendment,
- Constitution
Disciplines
Publication Date
2015
Citation Information
Akram Faizer and Charles E. Maclean. "Death Penalty Jurisprudence by Tallying State Legislative Enactments: Harmonizing the Eighth and Tenth Amendments" Criminal Law Bulletin Vol. 51 Iss. 4 (2015) Available at: http://works.bepress.com/akram_faizer/7/