The letter of the law versus the spirit of the law is an idiomatic antithesis. When one obeys the letter of the law but not the spirit, one is obeying the literal interpretation of the words (the "letter") of the law, but not the intent of those who wrote the law. And it should be obvious to most emotionally intelligent people that the 8th Amendment to the United States Constitution was meant to be broadly interpreted and/or applied to a variety of situations other than just capital punishment.
For instance; countless incarcerated males in the United States experience Cruel and Unusual Punishment on a daily basis -- everything from prison rape to beatings -- while women's prisons are cushy in comparison. This is not only a form of government-sanctioned institutionalized gender discrimination; but also essentially in violation of the United Nations Convention Against Torture -- as well as the Eight Amendment to the United States Constitution. Then when you add in the often unnecessary and violent "Use of Force" by law enforcement; it gets uglier by the minute.
Scientific studies have shown huge differences in brain structure between individuals, and some individuals actually have no ability to feel empathy (see: Narcissistic-Personality Disorder + http://www.livescience.com/37684-narcissistic-personality-disorder-brain-structure.html); and some of these decidedly and/or genetically non-empathetic people with Narcissistic Personality Disorder are in positions of power (Judges, Lawmakers, Police etc).
"Narcissistic Personality Disorder is characterized by a long-standing pattern of grandiosity (either in fantasy or actual behavior), an overwhelming need for admiration, and usually a complete lack of empathy toward others. People with this disorder often believe they are of primary importance in everybody’s life or to anyone they meet. While this pattern of behavior may be appropriate for a king in 16th Century England, it is generally considered inappropriate for most ordinary people today..."
For instance; not to be divisive but...almost the entire Republican political party (and/or G.O.P.) is known for it's "lawful" lack of empathy towards pretty much all life on earth (except for humans still within their mothers' wombs that is; humans who need protection in order to create a new generation of young soldiers and/or corporate workers etc); and/or the need to go off to war every Republican era in order to suspend the Constitutional rights of the American public, which is clearly a form of Cruel and Unusual Punishment within itself. And why is this?
Because what inevitably ensues after this annual Republican Constitutional suspension; is law enforcement treating individuals LIKE TOTAL SHIT (individuals who they took an oath to protect and serve). Law enforcement is allowed to treat people the way dogs should not even be treated during these vile and/or evil Republican eras...and this -- my good people -- is one of the truest definitions of "Cruel and Unusual Punishment".
OTHER OBVIOUS EXAMPLES OF CRUEL AND UNUSUAL PUNISHMENT: 1) Arresting people who feed the homeless in Florida; 2) Arresting people who feed ducks in California and injuring them in the process; 3) Arresting people who are peacefully protesting and/or violently attacking peaceful protesters and/or pepper spraying peaceful protesters; 4) Law enforcement asking someone to leave a bar for "trespassing" (isolating the person from their friends) after that person got attacked and the police refused to pull up the surveillance footage; 5) The unrestrained usage of billy clubs and/or guns by law enforcement; 6) Unlawful double jeopardy and/or GPS legs clamps; 7) Solitary confinement; 8) Prison guards who knew Jim Finley was being raped at Elmwood Correctional Facility yet did nothing to stop it (women more often than not DO NOT allow each other to have dignity or self-esteem; while men definitely do -- therefore; allowing men to be raped in prison is FAR MORE psychologically damaging than it is to women -- THE FACT IS; NO ONE DESERVES THIS KIND OF TREATMENT); 9) Allowing Jake Paolinetti and friends to stalk and harass and menace John for almost a decade (then blaming John for what they did); 10) Unlawful orders by law enforcement which violate in/unalienable Constitutional rights; 11) Usage of military drones; 12) War in general (which mainly affects the innocent); 13) Crucifixion etc etc etc...
Humans are mammals; and mammals share traits with all other similar mammalian creatures -- including the fight or flight response; foraging for food (and/or gainful employment); and/or other violent primitive instincts driven by their ancient lower "reptilian brains". As a response to these often violent and/or selfish human/animal tendencies; laws have been created to urge humans out of their relatively uncivilized state of being.
Everything from the Code of Hammurabi in ancient Babylonia; to the Ten Commandments of the Judeo-Christian-Islamic bible (note: 36 laws from the roughly 9,000 to 100,000 year old "Atlantean" society were recently found at the Nag Hammadi Library in Egypt; 10 of which are now the Ten Commandments); to the Magna Carta issued by King John of England; to the United States Constitution (which took about 14 years to ratify DUE TO CIVIL LIBERTIES CONCERNS); to the United Nations Convention Against Torture; to civil rights laws righteously passed in the 1960s -- all of these actions were intended to lift humans out of their lower mammalian state and civilize them. (And the Eight Amendment does not seem to contain any particular reference to humans as being the only ones protected from cruel and unusual punishment; meaning future interpretations could very well go in the favor of other animals as well; animals who are more often than not "punished" cruelly and unusually for committing no crime).
Humans are mammals; and mammals share traits with all other similar mammalian creatures -- including the fight or flight response; foraging for food (and/or gainful employment); and/or other violent primitive instincts driven by their ancient lower "reptilian brains". As a response to these often violent and/or selfish human/animal tendencies; laws have been created to urge humans out of their relatively uncivilized state of being.
Everything from the Code of Hammurabi in ancient Babylonia; to the Ten Commandments of the Judeo-Christian-Islamic bible (note: 36 laws from the roughly 9,000 to 100,000 year old "Atlantean" society were recently found at the Nag Hammadi Library in Egypt; 10 of which are now the Ten Commandments); to the Magna Carta issued by King John of England; to the United States Constitution (which took about 14 years to ratify DUE TO CIVIL LIBERTIES CONCERNS); to the United Nations Convention Against Torture; to civil rights laws righteously passed in the 1960s -- all of these actions were intended to lift humans out of their lower mammalian state and civilize them. (And the Eight Amendment does not seem to contain any particular reference to humans as being the only ones protected from cruel and unusual punishment; meaning future interpretations could very well go in the favor of other animals as well; animals who are more often than not "punished" cruelly and unusually for committing no crime).
It is obvious the 8th Amendment to the United States Constitution needs to be more broadly interpreted to serve the common good of all people.
GO TO: U.S. Constitution › Eighth Amendment › Cruel and Unusual Punishment @ http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/the-meaning-cruel-unusual-punishment.html + http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cruel_and_unusual_punishment + http://definitions.uslegal.com/s/spirit-of-the-law/ + http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letter_and_spirit_of_the_law
this is my 'rambling response'...haha...
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