Not just a wordsmith, at which he had few equals, the third president of the United States was a whiz at math, philosophy, history, and the languages (he was proficient in French, Latin and Greek). And that was just as a college student at the College of William and Mary.
The Eighth Amendment (Amendment VIII) of the United States Constitution prohibits the federal government from imposing excessive bail, excessive fines, or cruel and unusual punishments. The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that this amendment's Cruel and Unusual Punishment Clause also applies to the states.
(3) The Cruel and Unusual Punishments Clause does not prohibit the death penalty, because capital punishment was permissible in 1791, and because the text of the Constitution mentions the death penalty. Specifically, the Fifth Amendment commands that âNo person shall be held to answer for a capital.