Ny-asia Folk
11-12-2018
Cruel and unusual punishment is punishment that is to be unacceptable due to the suffering, pain, or humiliation it inflicts on the person subjected to it. Even though cruel and unusual is prohibited in the United states it is still being practiced. Is it because the courts haven’t all decided what is to be considered cruel and unusual? The biggest controversy over this is who receives cruel and unusual punishment. Mostly people of color for petty crimes that don’t correlate with the punishment that they receive.
Does a systematic form of “Cruel and Unusual Punishment” exist today? Indeed it does, there are people being sentenced to lengthy periods of time for petty crimes and other harsh punishments. In the book Just mercy Bryan Stevenson brings up a few cases one stuck out the most to me. In 1989 a thirteen year old by the name of Joe sullivan robbed a house with two other young males. They were stopped by the police and sullivan was accused of raping the woman whose house they robbed. The dna of the person who really raped the woman was destroyed and Joe Sullivan was sentenced to life in prison. While in prison Joe sullivan was raped multiple times and attempted to committed suicide, he then multiple sclerosis due to the trauma of him constantly being raped. Sullivan wrote to Stevenson’s foundation about his situation and his petition was denied by court in Florida, Stevenson then took this case to the supreme court. The eighth Amendment states that “Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.”
This has caused a continuation of prison slavery, I say this because some prisons are forcing their inmates to work without pay. Some of the inmates probably had good paying jobs outside of the prison and now they’re doing sentences for crimes they didn’t commit or because their skin color. For the inmates that are getting paid at some prisons Costs for room and board in prison are extracted from their payment, also fees for alimony and/or child support, and With whatever is left prisoners must pay for products at the commissary and phone calls. In some cases inmates are trying to support family members outside the prison with little to no money that they make. Just recently Florida voted to restore the voting rights of ex-felons using the fourth Amendment, so many people are convicted of crimes that they may or may not have committed and aren’t able to vote while in prison or in some cases when they’re released.
In my opinion cruel and unusual punishment still goes on today, people are being convicted of crimes that they didn’t commit and being sent to prison with bad living conditions. People are getting raped day and night and beaten to near death by other inmates, people who may or may not belong there. I feel like it is not fair to veto the voting rights of ex-felons, they’re apart of society too. If you do work you should be paid for it no, matter the circumstance.
Ny-asia Folk 