#Evolution of Interpretation

[worldwatcher3072]

Constitution Matters:

Part Eight - The Eighth Amendment and Its Significance

Welcome back to our ongoing series, "Constitution Matters," where we delve into the fundamental principles and amendments that shape the foundation of our democratic society. In this eighth installment, we explore the importance of the Eighth Amendment and how it safeguards the rights of every individual.

The Eighth Amendment: A Shield Against Cruel and Unusual Punishment

The Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution reads: "Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted." This concise yet powerful statement embodies the commitment of our nation to justice, fairness, and the protection of human dignity.

1. Protection Against Cruel and Unusual Punishment

The Eighth Amendment stands as a bulwark against the use of cruel and unusual punishment in the criminal justice system. It reflects the Founding Fathers' awareness of the potential for governmental abuse and their desire to prevent such abuse from occurring. This amendment ensures that punishments meted out by the legal system remain proportionate to the crime committed and do not cross the boundary into degrading or inhumane treatment.

2. Human Dignity and Moral Progress

By prohibiting cruel and unusual punishment, the Eighth Amendment recognizes the inherent worth and dignity of every individual, regardless of their actions. It reflects the belief that even in the face of wrongdoing, our society should strive to uphold a higher moral standard. This commitment to human dignity reinforces the idea that our justice system should aim to rehabilitate offenders, rather than subject them to dehumanizing treatment.

3. Evolving Interpretations and Contemporary Relevance

Over the years, the Eighth Amendment's interpretation has evolved to reflect changing societal norms and a deeper understanding of human rights. Courts have consistently grappled with questions about the constitutionality of various punishments, particularly in cases involving the death penalty, life imprisonment without parole for juveniles, and harsh sentences for nonviolent offenses. These debates illustrate the enduring relevance of the Eighth Amendment in guiding our legal system toward fairness and compassion.

4. A Protector of Vulnerable Populations

The Eighth Amendment serves as a safeguard for vulnerable populations, ensuring that they are not disproportionately subjected to harsh punishment. This includes individuals with mental illnesses, juveniles, and those facing economic hardship. The amendment underscores the principle that justice must be blind and unbiased, and that punitive measures should not discriminate based on an individual's background or circumstances.

The Eighth Amendment is a cornerstone of our Constitution, embodying our commitment to justice, human dignity, and the rule of law. Its prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment reflects the timeless values upon which our nation was founded, while also adapting to the changing needs and understanding of our society. As we continue to navigate the complexities of our criminal justice system, the Eighth Amendment remains an essential guidepost, reminding us that the pursuit of justice must always be tempered by compassion and respect for every individual's inherent worth.

Join us next time for Part Nine of "Constitution Matters," where we will explore the Ninth Amendment and its significance in protecting unenumerated rights.

Regenerate

[barryslighting]

Daredevil Teaser Posters 2015-2025 👓🦯

[milfsincrime]

spencer: *nervous & blushing* i guess you could say i fell for you

derek: you literally just fell down the stairs pretty boy

elle: oh my god, are you okay!?

[opens-up-4-nobody]

The annoying thing about being interested in religion in a non religious way is that bc you're thinking about religion a lot, you say a lot of religious things sometimes ironically sometimes bc ur brain is just making connections. But bc people don't know what's in ur head, you just sound religious

[dead-dove-orchid]

Deciding Moment.

[salt-n-salt]

Words can't explain how much I love your Shane's big ol' eyebrows

u know what IM GLAD U LIKE THEM bc sometimes i remember what his sprite actually looks like and realize that i really have no good explanation for why i make his eyebrows so big. but when i draw him without them does it not make his forehead look ginormous. one of life’s mysteries i suppose

[morganthefey]

so I’ve recently jumped into the dbh/reed900 fandom after playing the game and watching detroit evolution so UM if anyone has any fic recs for r9, especially if they match the vibe of evolution I will love you forever

[cocoabubbelle-newblog]

Random Thoughts

I keep thinking about Season 3, Episode 2: “The Stuff of Heroes” of X-Men: Evolution, where Rogue saw her face on the news and is dismayed that she “looks fat.”

And, well…

I’m not sure if the writers forgot that her overall body shape looks like this…

Or this is the particular part they are referencing that makes her “fat.”

‘She has the biggest breasts of all the girls’ is what was written, btw.

In that same episode, before she made that comment, we already see some characters searching through the Brotherhood’s things and eyeing the size Fred/The Blob’s clothing, but apparently that wasn’t enough of a joke?

Anyway, maybe they had her say that to reinforce her low self-esteem, but c’mon. I love this show, yet while the amount of times they make fat jokes is not that much, it still seems to come out of nowhere with some of them 😅

Whelp, regardless of how truly bigger she is or not than the other female characters, Scott scooping her up onto his shoulder like she weighed almost nothing is always a treat to remember and see. 🥰🥰🥰

[aelitaslittlereminders]

Well, I have my room at Kadic Academy, a room all by myself. I'm sort of glad I don't have a roommate, getting to know new people is not something I've done in a while, and it will make it easier to sneak out at night if I need to. But at the same time, it would be nice just to know someone's there.

Tomorrow morning we'll be testing out the vehicles Jeremie has been working on for the past few weeks, and then there's history class and a field trip into the forest near the school to draw plants. I'm nervous, and excited. I'd probably feel better if it were a computers class, haha.

[19catsncounting]

What if one of the reasons Lucifer cast a jaundiced eye at humanity was because humans get an afterlife in Heaven and angels Don't?

God didn't stop making crazy bloodthirsty primordial creatures after the Leviathans and angels and hellhounds and even Lucifer feared the Shedim for an implicit reason, so the odds are pretty decent that at least one angel was killed between the creation of the angels and the Garden of Eden, and the angels probably had to be like "...Where Thee Fuck is Death Taking Our Brother Steveniel" and God ~Mysteriously~ said "Don't worry about it :)" (because The Empty is never really mentioned until it's shown and when Castiel dies or kills other angels it's not "They're resting now" but "They're Fucking Annihilated") but then at some point in the human evolutionary tree they get souls (Supernatural explicitly denying the Adam and Eve creation myth with the "big plans for that fish" line but still having a Garden of Eden is fascinating and messy in this way but I personally think there were more than just two homo sapiens in the Garden and one of them might've dropped dead because the original plan for humanity and how much divinity or purity was defiled or lost is So Very Debatable) and those souls get to go to Heaven and Lucifer??? Is just supposed to be Chill about it???

Like, even if Lucifer thinks that they'll just Never Die, there's a Decent Chance that if they do, God's just gonna wave goodbye as Death carries them off to that Mysterious Somewhere beyond creation and God and... Yeah I don't think I'd be super enthused if I knew that if I tripped over my own feet on accident, my weird uncle would just carry me off the face of the earth Forever and my dad, my entire world, would just Let That Happen. All while my snotty nosed toddler sibling gets to stumble around and gets picked up and cooed over every time they fall.

(And then Lucifer dies and God brings them back and gives them the mission of fucking over the Winchesters and Boy That's Pretty Embarassing I Guess Dad Does Love Me Haha Jk I Was A Lil Crazy Back in Middle School 🤪 )

[fatalism-and-villainy]

Hmm so a perspective I think I’ve seen crop up in meta before, but that I don’t really buy, concerns taking this line from Bedelia in 3.10:

You couldn’t save Hannibal. Do you think you can save this new one?

because I’ve seen people imply that Bedelia was correct in her assumptions about Will here, but I’ve honestly never gotten the impression that Will wanted to “save” Hannibal at all.

“This new one” can only refer to Dolarhyde (touched on only elliptically in this scene), and I think it’s fair to say that Will does have some investment in “saving” Dolarhyde, by some definition of that word - hence his attachment to the idea that Dolarhyde might be trying to stop killing. But I don’t think that he at any point wants to save Hannibal. He spends 3A trying to understand Hannibal better, but it doesn’t seem as though he wants to use that understanding to “redeem” Hannibal or save him from his worst impulses. In fact, he actively rejects the idea that Hannibal’s backstory can explain the person he is now (“Mischa doesn’t explain Hannibal… she doesn’t quantify what he does”), or that Hannibal is capable of being redeemed. My impression is that, consistently through seasons two and three, he thinks of Hannibal as an immutable force, one he can either resist or submit to. (And of course, he opts to resist at the close of the first half of season 3, and ends the show by submitting.)

So I think the investment Will may have in saving Dolarhyde stems from his identification with Dolarhyde, especially in the fact that Dolarhyde becomes another pupil of Hannibal (and Will uses their shared role vis a vis Hannibal to manipulate Dolarhyde in WOTL). His theory that Dolarhyde is trying to stop is perhaps wrapped up in his own desire to resist Hannibal, and by extension his own violent urges. And perhaps that sheds more meaning on “I don’t think I can save myself, but maybe that’s just fine.” But any desire to “save” Dolarhyde seems much more based in a desire to save himself than a desire to save Hannibal.

And this dialogue from Bedelia is in the same scene as the wounded bird exchange. Bedelia instructing Will to crush the wounded bird, instead of save it, makes the most sense when read as her trying to get Will to kill Hannibal (in the same way she tried to get Hannibal to kill Will in 3A). But there’s no indication to me that Will thinks of Hannibal specifically as a wounded bird. In fact, it’s easier to argue that Bedelia saw Hannibal that way - she and Will discuss her continuation of her role as Hannibal’s psychiatrist, and that’s contrasted with her “crushing” Neal Frank, and her acknowledgment of how unevenly distributed her compassion was towards her two patients. So when she tells Will, “the next time you have an instinct to help someone, you might consider crushing them instead”, she’s actively trying to redirect his impulses, but I think also alluding to the shift in her approach towards Hannibal from 3A to 3B.

All of that is to say - I think Bedelia’s assumption that Will was motivated to “save” Hannibal is perhaps a case of projection on her part.

And Bedelia’s perception of Will changes throughout this arc. Although in 3.10 she’s very convinced that Will isn’t a true killer, she gradually comes to realize just how actively allied with Hannibal’s interests he is, whether he realizes it or not. The turning point for her is, I believe, 3.12, in the aftermath of the Chilton affair, when she recognizes Will as Hannibal’s “agency in the world.” Although Will does end up crushing Dolarhyde, he opts to help Hannibal. But it’s not rehabilitative help, it’s collaborative. And I think Bedelia becomes steadily more aware of that throughout this arc.

[barryslighting]

Daredevil Official Posters 2015-2025 👓🦯

[obliviousasheck]

we listen, we dont judge (SIX the musical edition)

[thebugautistic]

Ok. Ok guys. Guys hang on In EVO the watchers were just, like, the audience right. Grian was just. It was just a silly lore way to explain grian quitting the series and becoming a "watcher" of it. Right. Yeah. So. So watchersonas. Watchersonas aren't that far fetched. Guys Guys we. We can make Watchersonas. We can . Nobody can stop us We can do that

[m0e-ru]

間宮祥太朗 Shotaro Mamiya’s comment regarding his role as “Izanami” in the 2012 P4 Official Magazine #ONE MORE, Visualive the Evolution Information “Making of Visualive” segment

[image ID: A scanned magazine page. To the left of the frame is Mamiya, dressed in Izanami’s robes for the bromide shoot. To the right of the frame is text that reads, “Izanami,” the character I play this time, is an elusive being. If you try and ask anyone about this character, they would all say, “You can’t explain it in one word.” When it comes to playing Izanami, one should think to be “a being who does not project anyone’s image, but one who can reflect anyone’s image,” you see. For example, if the Izanami that A-kun imagines and the Izanami that B-kun thinks of are completely different, I think the question that would normally arise is, “Which one is correct?” But as far as Izanami is concerned, I don't think there is an answer. Of course I'm studying about this character’s position and role in the work, but I myself, who plays the role, wonder, “In the end, what is Izanami?” “What kind of person is Izanami?” and it’s with this mysterious aspect, I believe, is what makes Izanami unique. On stage, this exact feeling is what I want everyone to see and what I want to convey.

IZANAMI By Shotaro Mamiya

Profile Born 6/11, Kanagawa Prefecture. Stageplay “Roshutsukyou (Exhibitionist)” TV drama “Hanazakari no Kimitachi e (For You in Full Blossom) Ikemen☆Paradise 2011” and others.

※ Behind the scenes photographs were taken before character makeup was completed. End ID]

[gayinternetsideways]

I should watch tfp though...