- punishment
- Any fine, penalty, or confinement inflicted upon a person by the authority of the law and the judgment and sentence of a court, for some crime or offense committed by him, or for his omission of a duty enjoined by law. A deprivation of property or some right. But does not include a civil penalty redounding to the benefit of an individual, such as a forfeiture of interest. People v. Vanderpool, 20 Cal.2d 746, 128 P.2d 513, 515.See also sentenceCruel and unusual punishment. As prohibited by Eighth Amendment, is such punishment as would amount to torture or barbarity, and any cruel and degrading punishment not known to the common law, and also any punishment so disproportionate to the offense as to shock the moral sense of the community. In re Kemmler, 136 U.S. 436, 10 S.Ct. 930, 34 L.Ed. 519.Punishment which is excessive for the crime committed is cruel and unusual. Coker v. Georgia, 433 U.S. 584, 97 S.Ct. 2861, 53 L.Ed.2d 982.Such punishment cannot be defined with specificity; it is flexible and tends to broaden as society tends to pay more regard to human decency and dignity and becomes, or likes to think that it becomes, more humane. Holt v. Sarver, D.C.Ark., 309 F.Supp. 362, 365, 380.The death penalty is not per se cruel and unusual punishment within the prohibition of the 8th Amendment, U.S.Const., but states must follow strict safeguards in the sentencing of one to death. Gregg v. Georgia, 428 U.S. 153, 96 S.Ct. 2909, 49 L.Ed.2d 859.The fundamental respect for humanity underlying the Eighth Amendment requires consideration of the character and record of the individual offender and the circumstances of the particular offense as a constitutionally indispensable part of the process of inflicting the penalty of death. Woodson v. North Carolina, 428 U.S. 280, 304, 96 S.Ct. 2978, 49 L.Ed.2d 944; Roberts v. Louisiana, 431 U.S. 633, 637, 97 S.Ct. 1993, 1995, 52 L.Ed.2d 637.See also capital (capital punishment); corporal punishment; excessive punishment; hard labor; sentence.@ cumulative punishmentAn increased punishment inflicted for a second or third conviction of the same offense, under the statutes relating to habitual criminals. To be distinguished from a "cumulative sentence," as to which see sentence.@ infamous punishmentPunishment by imprisonment, particularly in a penitentiary. Sometimes, imprisonment at hard labor regardless of the place of imprisonment. U. S. v. Moreland, 258 U.S. 433, 42 S.Ct. 368, 66 L.Ed. 700@
Black's law dictionary. HENRY CAMPBELL BLACK, M. A.. 1990.
