The Eighth Amendment is meant to protect prisoners against abuse. BI has found that Supreme Court decisions and federal laws ...

BI analyzed nearly 1,500 cases to obtain data on prisoner litigation. We found that constitutional protections have been dramatically weakened.

the Supreme Court ruled that inmates on death row could make last-minute claims that the chemicals in lethal injections are too painful and violate the Constitution's Eighth Amendment.

Illinois inmates defeated in part an attempt by state officials to win summary judgment on their Eighth Amendment-based class ...

Others say they were assaulted by officers themselves. The Eighth Amendment, which bars "cruel and unusual punishments," was intended by the founders as a bulwark against prisoner abuse.