Under the 8th Amendment of the United States Constitution, cruwl and unusual punishment is prohibited. However, over the past fifty years the meaning of these words “cruel and unusual punishment” has been reduced to mere words n a piece of paper. In the twenty first century a person must suffer some form of physical abuse before society will acknowledge that a person is suffering cruel and unusual punishment. But as we know, there are other forms of cruelty that can damage a person far worse then any from of physical punishment. For example, if you drive a person insane, is that cruel and unusual punishment? If you strip a person of his or her dignity, treat that person like an animal, and lock them in a cage for 40, 50, 60 years, until all the life is sucked out of them. Is that cruel and unusual punishment? If you sentence a child to the death penalty, is that cruel and unusual punishment?
Yes, because according to the legal interpretation of the term cruel and unusual punishment, the concept of cruel and unusual punishment is based on the premises that, it prohibits barbaric treatment, and excessive sanctions.
The 8th amendment not only bars punishments that are inherently “barbaric”, but also those that are excessive. Logically extended, the degree of punishment should be fair and proportionate to the offence. A number of things must be taken under consideration when sentencing a person for a crime. Like, the crime committed, the age of the offender, the type of crime, and the criminal history of the offender. Meaning that the degree of punishment should be directly correlated to the culpability of thee offender, any facts which may tend to mitigate the degree of culpability should be considered before punishment is imposed.
Two years ago, the United States Supreme Court ruled that juveniles under 18 years of age cannot be sentenced to the death penalty. Ruling that, it is unconstitutional under the 8th amendment /cruel and unusual punishment) to execute a child. The reasoning of the court held that, it is unacceptable to sentence a child on the same scale as an adult. In conjunction with the Supreme Court ruling, there have been a number of different studies done by psychologist and neurologist to determine the difference between the brain of an adult and the brain of a child. These studies found that a child’s brain is not fully developed in certain areas such as, control, reasoning and judgement. Moreover, these studies found that children lack the full mental capacity to completely comprehend the consequences of their conduct. Logically extended, if a child does not fully comprehend their actions because they lack the full mental capacity of an adult, their criminal culpability should be assessed according to their mental capacity. By the same token, a child’s mind is often associated with or compared to a mentally retarded person, and nobody would suggest that a mentally retarded person be punished in the like an adult.
However, this does not mean that juveniles do not understand the difference between right and wrong, nor should they be exempt from punishment. It simply means that a child’s mind cannot function like an adult because the brain of a child is not fully developed. Therefore, children should not be punished like an adult.
However, children in the State of Pennsylvania (U.S.A.) continue to be sentenced to the death penalty under another phrase, (life without the possibility of parole). Right now there are over 2,225 juveniles serving LWOP. Pennsylvania has more children sentenced to death than any other state in America, (450). Many of these juveniles have been in prison for 30 to 40 years, lingering in these cages without hope, suffering the torment of a slow painful death. This type of inhumane and barbaric treatment is a violation of a child’s human rights. When the highest Court in the United States of America (U.S. Supreme Court), ruled that children should not be give the death penalty. The court stated that “when a juvenile commits a heinous crime, the state can exact the forfeiture of some of the most basic liberties, but the state cannot extinguish his life and his potential to attain a mature understanding of his own humanity”. Which is consistent with the meaning of the 8th amendment, i.e., if the punishment is excessive, it is nothing more than the purposeless and needless imposition of pain and suffering. Nevertheless, these words are hollow, because nobody cares.
People around the world must stand up and demand that all children in the United States be given their human rights. Forget about constitutional rights, this subject must be dictated by human rights, because it’s barbaric, cruel and inhumane to put a child in a cage for 60, 70 or even 80 years while they wait to die. Surely, this is a form of cruel and unusual punishment, but more importantly, a crime against humanity.
History tells us that, the humanity of a society can be judged by the manner in which its children are treated. The senseless punishment of sentencing a child to life without the possibility of parole (death penalty) is cruel and barbaric. Stand up and let your voice be heard.

The struggle continues,

John Thompson, AM-5557
S.C.I. Coal Township
1 Kelley Drive
Coal Township, Pa. 17866

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