Bucklew v. Precythe

Document Type

Oral Presentation

Campus where you would like to present

Ellensburg

Event Website

https://digitalcommons.cwu.edu/source

Start Date

16-5-2019

End Date

16-5-2019

Abstract

The Eighth Amendment, which protects against cruel and unusual punishment, is central to America’s self-concept- a country that upholds a fair and just system of law. However, within the bounds of “cruel and unusual” there is an extraordinary amount of gray space yet to be filled and room for interpretation. Russell Bucklew, a convicted murderer, seeks in his case to fill in some of this space with a bit of color- arguing that Missouri’s lethal injection protocol would constitute cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the Eighth Amendment as applied to him because of a unique congenital medical condition from which he suffers. In this presentation I will provide a robust look at the eighth amendment, providing a history of this case and a review of notable eighth amendment cases and their potential effects on Bucklew, as well as the specific positions taken on either side of this case. Lastly, through analysis of the current Supreme Court and further synthesis of their questions during oral argument, I will attempt to predict the outcome of Bucklew and explain its future significance for our country.

Faculty Mentor(s)

Robert Claridge

Department/Program

Law and Justice

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May 16th, 1:00 PM May 16th, 2:30 PM

Bucklew v. Precythe

Ellensburg

The Eighth Amendment, which protects against cruel and unusual punishment, is central to America’s self-concept- a country that upholds a fair and just system of law. However, within the bounds of “cruel and unusual” there is an extraordinary amount of gray space yet to be filled and room for interpretation. Russell Bucklew, a convicted murderer, seeks in his case to fill in some of this space with a bit of color- arguing that Missouri’s lethal injection protocol would constitute cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the Eighth Amendment as applied to him because of a unique congenital medical condition from which he suffers. In this presentation I will provide a robust look at the eighth amendment, providing a history of this case and a review of notable eighth amendment cases and their potential effects on Bucklew, as well as the specific positions taken on either side of this case. Lastly, through analysis of the current Supreme Court and further synthesis of their questions during oral argument, I will attempt to predict the outcome of Bucklew and explain its future significance for our country.

https://digitalcommons.cwu.edu/source/2019/Oralpres/198