1. The 8th amendment
Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted

2. Furman v. georgia
In 1972, William Furman was sentenced to death for two cases of rape and one case of murder
One of the rapes happened in Texas and the other in Georgia
Furman appealed before the court

3. problems
Would the imposition and carrying out of the death penalty be considered cruel and unusual punishment?
According to Justice Potter Stewart, Furman was given the death penalty because he was black

4. outcome The court came to the conclusion that the penalty was unequal
The death sentence that was imposed was left undisturbed for all three cases

5. Robinson v. california
In 1962, Lawrence Robinson was arrested because a police thought that he had injection marks on his arm
A California statute made it a crime for someone to be addicted to the use of narcotics

6. problems He was put in jail for 90 days
Was the California law cruel and unusual punishment that went against the Eighth Amendment?

7. outcome The punishment was questioned by the Supreme Court
The court came to the conclusion that the punishment completely went against the Eighth Amendment, and argued that the state couldn’t punish people based their “status” or addiction