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.
The Eighth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution prohibits the government from inflicting cruel and unusual punishments.. The controversy over the constitutionality of the death penalty lies in the Ambiguity of the phrase cruel and unusual.. The first meeting of Congress addressed the phrase for only a few minutes.