Study On The Effect And Enlightenment Of The Eighth Amendment To The United States Constitution In The Death Penalty Reform

As the severest punishment in the human society, the death penalty has gone through a long evolution course. Although there is a trend toward abolishing the death penalty prevails in modern society, China and the United States, with different characteristics in their judicial systems and development courses, are two great powers that still preserve the death penalty.In the United States, the death penalty is regarded as an important matter of constitution, especially the forbiddance of “cruel and unusual punishment” which plays a extremely significant role in the process of the death penalty reform. Through a series of judicial interpretation of the forbiddance of cruel and unusual punishment’ in the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution made by the Supreme Court of the United States, the rules of restricting the application of the death penalty is completely established. In order to study the evolution of the restriction and guide function of the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution, this paper analyses the background, major features and final opinions from the Supreme Court of some symbolic cases, such as Furman v. Georgia, Cregg v.Georgia, Coker v. Georgia, Lockett v. Ohio, Thompson v. Oklahoma and Roper v. Simmons.Undoubtedly, the application of the Eighth Amendment in the United States is not always smooth, some problems also are exposed. The inconsistency of the results of Rummel v. Estelle, Solem v. Helm, Ewing v. California and Stanford v. Kentucky and many other cases and the possibility of erroneous judgment lead to the appearance of the Death Penalty Moratorium. On the other side, the principle of human dignity, the principle of proportionality and the principle of evolving standards of decency have far-reaching significance and provide China with plenty of references and enlightenments.Due to the high level of severe crimes, the deep-rooted historic tradition of the death penalty and the low degree of Chinese material and spiritual civilization, it is not feasible and possible for China to abolish the death penalty completely. However, it is undeniable that China has some problems in the application of the death penalty. Therefore, by combining the special conditions of China and the abundant experiences from the United States, China can get following inspirations:Firstly, in the respect of the interpretation of the criminal law, China should take the evolving standards of decency into account and attach great importance to the effect of specific case. Moreover, China should restrict the objective criterion in the application of death penalty and entitle judiciary power of legal interpretation of individual case with judges properly. Furthermore, in the respect of sentencing procedure, China can establish an independent sentencing procedure, standardize circumstances of sentencing and perfect lawyers’ right to defense to ensure that the accused can receive help effectively. Last but not least, in the respect of human rights, China can continue reducing those charges on death penalty and add death penalty pardon system.All in all, this paper analyses the effect of the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution on restricting and guiding the application of the death penalty. The success of the death penalty reform cannot be accomplished at on stroke. Based on national conditions, China should discard the dross and select the essential part of the application of death penalty in the United States. In this way, China will realize judicial independence and fairness fully and comprehensively.