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Capital Punishment does not violate the Eight Amendment
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Oliver Ellsworth drafted the Crimes Act of 1790 and was passed by congress on April 30, 1790. When the First Congress enacted the Crimes Act in 1790, it stipulated only 17 federal crimes will be taken to trial. (Meese III, 2010). Defendants that were found guilty of murder and prison break were put to death. Oliver Ellsworth was appointed Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court in 1796. “In Furman v. Georgia (1972), the U.S. Supreme Court found that the death penalty, which was applied capriciously and on a racially discriminatory basis, violated the Eighth Amendment.” These death penalties are cruel and unusual. (Head, n.d.). U.S. Supreme Court voted upholding the death penalty in Gregg v. Georgia in 1976 by 7-2. In regards to the vote, there would be some changes to the Crimes Act of 1790 that would not allow defendants eligible for the death penalty. One of the changes is the defendants I.Q. When the defendant’s has an I.Q. below 70, the defendant would be labeled mentally retarded and would not be eligible for the death penalty. When the defendant is under the age of 18 at the time of the crime, the defendant would not be eligible for the death penalty. President Clinton signed the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 in the aftermath of the World Trade Center and the Oklahoma City bombings, this Act allowed the defendant found guilty would be subject to the death penalty.
According to "U.S. Army Corrections System: Procedures For Military Executions " (2010), “Only the President of the United States can approve and order the execution of a death sentence (under the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) Article 71(a), Rules for Courts-Martial (RCM) 1207). The DODD 1325.04 appoints the Secretary of the Army (SA) as the Department of Defense (DOD) executive

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