31. However, the court said the Eighth Amendment and the Tennessee Constitution prohibit executing mentally retarded individuals. 32. The defendants moved to reduce bail, claiming that it was excessive under the Eighth Amendment . 33. Is nullification of the Fifth, Sixth and Eighth Amendments one of the lessons that America could learn? 34. And on constitutional grounds, the Eighth Amendment protection against cruel and unusual punishment sets a high threshold. 35. It was the first time the court had used the Eighth Amendment to overturn a state criminal conviction. 36. They also argued that the federal death penalty violates the Eighth Amendment prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment. 37. For example, Professor John Stinneford asserts that the " evolving standards " test misinterprets the Eighth Amendment : 38. Breyer did not believe the Founders could have contemplated decades long delays when they wrote the Eighth Amendment . 39. One judge declared that the longer sentences violate the Eighth Amendment 's prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment. 40. In 1993, the justices said that forfeiture may violate the Eighth Amendment 's prohibition against excessive fines.
