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Supreme Court limits death penalty

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Supreme Court limits death penalty

The Supreme Court most recently determined that the death penalty violates the Eighth Amendment. In Ring v. Arizona, and Atkins v. Virginia, the Supreme Court placed new and significant limitations on the death penalty. In Atkins, the Supreme Court decided that executing a retarded person violates the Eighth Amendment's prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment.

The September 2002 issue of Prison Legal News reports that "In Atkins, the Court recognized that execution of the retarded was permitted at the time our constitution was written, but held that it now violated our 'evolving standards of decency.'" In the Ring decision the Court determined that juries will now "determine the existence of any factor needed for imposition of the death penalty." It has yet to be determined how many states other than Arizona will be affected by the Ring decision.