ABSTRACT
The Eighth Amendment to the US Constitution bars government from inflicting "cruel and unusual punishments." Early US Supreme Court cases construing this language primarily considered the constitutionality of modes of punishment other than imprisonment. With respect to physical punishments, the justices have always agreed that the Constitution forbids the types of torturous methods deemed cruel and unusual at the time the Bill of Rights was adopted, such as whipping, burning at the stake, breaking on the wheel, and disembowelment. In reliance on the view that the Eighth Amendment encompasses a narrow-proportionality principle governing noncapital cases, the Court has considered several attacks on extremely long prison sentences. The modern capital punishment era began in 1972, when the landmark five-four decision in Furman v. Georgia, invalidated all extant death penalty laws.
