Understanding Cruel and Unusual Punishment

Resources

Student Resources:

• Cruel and Unusual Handout
• Supreme Court Decisions Info Sheet

Teacher Resources:

• Eighth Amendment video from The Bill of Rights Institute

Facilitation Notes

• This lesson briefly discusses the death penalty, conditions of incarceration, corporal punishment, and other topics that can be distressing or elicit strong emotional responses. Follow the proper protocol for your school or district surrounding these topics.

Engage

• Start by asking students to define the word “unusual,” then ask a few students to share their definitions.
• Ask students to classify the following things from least to most unusual:
• A dog with painted toenails; wearing a backpack upside down; peeling blueberries before eating; being the driver of a car but entering and exiting through the passenger door; answering all questions with another question
• Next, try to come to a class consensus on the order of unusual topics. It should be a challenging task, with lots of different opinions. Ask guiding questions such as: “Does it matter how frequently an event occurs to consider it unusual?” “What about how much it affects other people?” “Does the age or location of the person taking the action make a difference in finding that action cruel or unusual?”
• Once you have settled on a list or hit a maximum time of ten minutes of discussion, ask students if it is more beneficial or problematic to have a variety of definitions and opinions to decide what is “unusual.”
• Transition: Today we will learn about the Eighth Amendment, which protects people from cruel or unusual punishments. As we just discussed, we can all have different points of view on what makes something “unusual,” and the same is true for “cruel.” While the examples we just covered were silly, when someone has been found guilty of a crime and is receiving a punishment, that is serious. The Eighth Amendment has been a major point of contention throughout United States history. 

Explore

• Play the Eighth Amendment video and discuss:
• “What three things are prohibited by the Eighth Amendment?”
• “How does the death penalty relate to the Eighth Amendment?”
• “What parameters has the Supreme Court set for the death penalty?”
• Distribute the Cruel and Unusual handout and have students classify punishments as cruel or unusual.
• Follow up with the Supreme Court Decisions info sheet and discuss case outcomes.
• Glossary term: corporal punishment

Assess & Reflect

• Compare students’ opinions to Supreme Court decisions for the following cases:
  • City of Grants Pass v. Johnson (2024)
• How did your opinion compare to the Court’s? Did the majority opinion change your view?
  • Ewing v. California (2003)
• How did your opinion compare to the Court’s? Did the majority opinion change your view?
  • Trop v. Dulles (1957)
• How did your opinion compare to the Court’s? Did the majority opinion change your view?
  • Ingraham v. Wright (1977)
• How did your opinion compare to the Court’s? Did the majority opinion change your view?

Further Reflection:

• In Trop v. Dulles (1957), Chief Justice Warren said the Eighth Amendment must reflect “the evolving standards of decency that mark the progress of a maturing society.”
  • What does this mean, and who should define those evolving standards?
• How did the Supreme Court uphold the principle of federalism in their rulings?

Extend

• Have students summarize dissenting opinions from the cases reviewed.
• Complete the lesson “Eighth Amendment: Change Over Time.”