#AppealsCourt panel let's #DJT off the hook for financial penalty of hundreds of millions in fines. Panel agrees #TrumpOrg committed fraud, but that cannot be fined "excessive" $464 million. for it.

University of #Michigan #LawSchool Professor Barbara McQuade said "the court found that the fine was excessive and has eliminated that under the #EighthAmendment. What it said, most importantly, is that there was #fraud. That the #verdict was absolutely sound. That the evidence showed that the Trump Organization engaged in massive fraud..."

"Pathetic really. At this point, a slap on the wrist isn't going to stop Trump's fraud. Is this an admission by the NY appeals court that the no law anywhere can hold him accountable?" asked tech lawyer Benjamin Kabak on MSNBC.

https://youtu.be/wtv49S6L1VM

#USGOV uses term #Horrific to describe #incarceration in great state of #Georgia...

#DOJ released probe on conditions of #prisons in the state of #GA, which it said were "#inhumane" and in violation of the #USConstitution #EighthAmendment which prohibits #CruelAndUnusualPunishment

US GOVT sez #GeorgiaPrisons ''deliberately indifferent'' to unchecked deadly #violence, widespread #druguse, #extortion and #SexualAbuse at state lockups...

https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/4909808-georgia-prisons-inhumane-conditions/

https://reason.com/2024/07/30/texas-prisoners-are-being-cooked-alive-by-high-temperatures-investigation-says/
"Inmates in #Texas state prisons are being "cooked alive" by scorching temperatures in facilities without air conditioning, a new investigation claims. Documents obtained by The Texas Newsroom, a public radio collaboration of multiple Texas stations, showed that even as inmates died with body temperatures nearing 107 degrees, officials have continued to blame their deaths on causes other than extreme heat."
#HumanRights #EighthAmendment

Writing for the majority, Justice Neil #Gorsuch said the problem of #homelessness is complex, but the #EighthAmendment “does not authorize federal judges to wrest those rights and responsibilities from the American people & in their place dictate this Nation’s homelessness policy.”
The decision returns the case to the lower courts, & it is not clear whether Grants Pass, OR will be able to enforce its #laws against #homeless individuals.
https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/23pdf/23-175_19m2.pdf

In a 6-3 ruling, the court said #homelessness is not a status protected by the #EighthAmendment’s prohibition on #CruelAndUnusual punishment, even when a community offers #NoAccess to indoor #shelter for #HomelessPeople.

So much for love thy neighbor

#law #SCOTUS #TheCrueltyIsThePoint #HumanRights #SupremeCourt #AntiCamping #laws #PublicSpace #homeless

City of Grant's Pass v. Johnson, Supreme Court reverses 9th Circuit, holding that laws re camping on public property used to punish homeless are not cruel and unusual punishment

https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/23pdf/23-175_19m2.pdf

#SupremeCourt #SCOTUS #EighthAmendment #homeless #law #lawFedi #LawProf

https://reason.com/2024/04/19/oklahoma-prisoners-say-they-were-locked-in-filthy-tiny-shower-stalls-for-days/
"According to the suit, staff at the Great Plains Correctional Center locked several inmates in small shower stalls for extended periods, without access to basic amenities like adequate food and water. Most were placed in 3 square foot shower cells, though at least one was confined in an even smaller space. Confinement periods listed in the suit ranged from 24 hours to four days.

The suit describes harrowing conditions for inmates held in the shower stalls. They allege they were placed in stalls filled with human feces and deprived of bathroom breaks. Additionally, several inmates say the only water they had access to was scalding hot shower water."
#HumanRights #EighthAmendment

https://reason.com/2024/04/10/a-florida-judge-says-165000-in-fines-for-3-minor-code-violations-is-not-excessive/
"A Florida judge yesterday ruled against a Lantana homeowner who faces more than $165,000 in fines for three minor code violations that harmed no one. Sandy Martinez, who is represented by the Institute for Justice (I.J.), argued that the financially crippling demand, which stems from driveway cracks, a storm-damaged fence, and cars that were parked partially on her own lawn, violates the Florida Constitution's ban on excessive fines and its guarantee of due process."

"But Palm Beach County Circuit Court Judge Luis Delgado granted the city's motion for summary judgment, concluding that the fines were not "grossly disproportionate."

Martinez hopes to persuade Florida's Fourth District Court of Appeal that Delgado is wrong about that."
#HumanRights #EighthAmendment

https://www.aclu.org/news/criminal-law-reform/the-supreme-court-will-soon-determine-whether-cities-can-punish-people-for-sleeping-in-public-when-they-have-nowhere-else-to-go
"Cities all across the United States have been increasingly passing laws that punish people who are forced to sleep outside each night due a lack of available shelter and extreme housing shortages. The Supreme Court will soon decide if doing so violates the #EighthAmendment’s prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment, in a case that arose out of southern Oregon and is arguably the most significant case on homelessness in decades."
#HumanRights

https://reason.com/2024/04/04/federal-appeals-court-says-texas-inmates-decade-long-lawsuit-over-sleep-deprivation-can-keep-going/
"Is it cruel and unusual to subject an incarcerated person to sleep deprivation for years? That's a question it has taken federal courts more than a decade to answer.

On March 22, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit reinstated Texas inmate Michael Garrett's 11-year-long-and-still-running lawsuit against the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, finding that a lower district court had repeatedly and incorrectly subjected him to a higher bar than it should have to prove that being afforded less than four hours of sleep a night violated his constitutional rights."
#HumanRights #EighthAmendment

#OnThisDay 25th May 2018, the referendum to repeal the 8th Amendment to the Irish constitution was held. The vote to remove the block on provision of abortion services was passed with 66% voting yes.

https://www.leftarchive.ie/subject/3762/

#IrishPolitics #OTD #Repeal #EighthAmendment #Abortion #Referendum

A cartoon highlighting church hypocrisy on abortion.

The cartoon accompanied an article asking readers to vote No in the 1983 eighth amendment referendum, from Women's View.

#IrishLeft #IrishHistory #IrishPolitics #WomensView #Repeal #EighthAmendment #AbortionRights

I'm gonna keep tooting about ICUJP's "Close #Guantanamo Now" protest on January 11 in front of the Downtown Los Angeles Federal Building (300 N. Los Angeles St., 90012) until someone re-toots it (and maybe even after they do). https://www.icujp.org/close_guantanamo_2022 #torture #kidnapping #ArrestWithoutCharges #ImprisonmentWithoutTrial #murder #EighthAmendment #UNCAT #CommonArticle3

On Tuesday, January 11, Interfaith Communities United For Justice and Peace (ICUJP) will hold its regrettably 11th annual "Close #Guantanamo Now" protest rally in front of the Downtown Los Angeles Federal Building at 300 N. Los Angeles St. (90012) https://www.icujp.org/close_guantanamo_2022. Be there (in person or online) or be one of the tens of millions of Americans who are cheerfully indifferent to this un-Constitutional hellhole. #torture #EighthAmendment