Others say they were assaulted by officers themselves. The Eighth Amendment, which bars "cruel and unusual punishments," was intended by the founders as a bulwark against prisoner abuse.

Together, they changed the legal landscape of the Eighth Amendment — the foundational constitutional protection against "cruel and unusual punishments." Heavy criticism soon followed — from ...

How a Clinton-era law, the PLRA, hollowed out the Eighth Amendment. Nearly three years into Bill Clinton's first term as president, US senators took to the floor to tackle an urgent concern.

Johnson that a city does not violate the Eighth Amendment’s ban on cruel and unusual punishments when it enforces against homeless individuals its ordinance that bars encampments on public property.