The state of Arizona executed Joseph R. Wood III on Wednesday. For those Americans who, as we do, consider the death penalty to be a dehumanizing punishment unworthy of our advanced society, that sentence should be enough to elicit profound moral discomfort. Then there was the way it happened: Executioners pumped Mr. Wood with a two-drug regimen meant to lull him toward death peacefully and quickly. Instead, he remained alive for nearly two
hours, gasping and snorting, as his lawyer frantically appealed to a judge to call off the botched execution.
. . .
We argue that the public's increasing aversion should be based on concerns about issues deeper than just the method of killing inmates. There are a variety of practical objections: The death penalty is extremely expensive to administer; it is often applied to men with diminished mental capacity or other mental disorders. Racial disparities in death penalty sentencing and
too-frequent death-row exonerations demonstrate that the criminal justice system has not applied the ultimate punishment fairly. Then there is the simple fact that this complex, costly and unattractive system is wholly unnecessary to punish even depraved criminals. Any combination of these factors points to the truth that the death penalty in the United States is deeply unwise. It is, as practiced, cruel and unusual.
—Source: Why the U.S. Should End the Death Penalty, Washington Post, July
26, 2014.
The editorial above implies that capital punishment is a violation of which of the following Constitutional amendments?
The state of Arizona executed Joseph R. Wood III on Wednesday. For those Americans who, as we do, consider the death penalty to be a dehumanizing punishment unworthy of our advanced society, that sentence should be enough to elicit profound moral discomfort. Then there was the way it happened: Executioners pumped Mr. Wood
with a two-drug regimen meant to lull him toward death peacefully and quickly. Instead, he remained alive for nearly two hours, gasping and snorting, as his lawyer frantically appealed to a judge to call off the botched execution.
. . .
We argue that the public's increasing aversion should be based on concerns about issues deeper than just the method of killing inmates. There are a variety of practical objections: The death penalty is extremely expensive to administer; it is often applied
to men with diminished mental capacity or other mental disorders. Racial disparities in death penalty sentencing and too-frequent death-row exonerations demonstrate that the criminal justice system has not applied the ultimate punishment fairly. Then there is the simple fact that this complex, costly and unattractive system is wholly unnecessary to punish even depraved criminals. Any combination of these factors points to the truth that the death penalty in the United States is deeply unwise. It
is, as practiced, cruel and unusual.
—Source: Why the U.S. Should End the Death Penalty, Washington Post, July 26, 2014.
Which amendment could be used to counter the editorial?
The state of Arizona executed Joseph R. Wood III on Wednesday. For those Americans who, as we do, consider the death penalty to be a dehumanizing punishment unworthy of our advanced society, that sentence should be enough to elicit profound moral discomfort. Then there was
the way it happened: Executioners pumped Mr. Wood with a two-drug regimen meant to lull him toward death peacefully and quickly. Instead, he remained alive for nearly two hours, gasping and snorting, as his lawyer frantically appealed to a judge to call off the botched execution.
. . .
We argue that the public's increasing aversion should be based on concerns about issues deeper than just the method of killing inmates. There are a variety of practical objections: The death penalty is
extremely expensive to administer; it is often applied to men with diminished mental capacity or other mental disorders. Racial disparities in death penalty sentencing and too-frequent death-row exonerations demonstrate that the criminal justice system has not applied the ultimate punishment fairly. Then there is the simple fact that this complex, costly and unattractive system is wholly unnecessary to punish even depraved criminals. Any combination of these factors points to the truth that the
death penalty in the United States is deeply unwise. It is, as practiced, cruel and unusual.
—Source: Why the U.S. Should End the Death Penalty, Washington Post, July 26, 2014.
If the Supreme Court overturned Arizona's capital punishment law, then which of the following is the most likely outcome?
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