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When the first amendments to the constitution were constructed, they were developed to ensure certain civil liberties to every person in the United States. These civil liberties included freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom from unlawful search and seizure, and many more (O’Connor, 150). One of the most controversial amendments to the constitution is freedom from cruel and unusual punishment. This is because it is very difficult to define cruel and unusual in terms of sentencing a criminal. This controversial issue is very present in a recent capital crime case, the case of Steve Roach. “Steve Roach was born in Greene County, Virginia. By the age of seventeen, Steve had already had several run-ins with the law, two instances of car theft and one count of breaking an entering, for which he was put on probation.” (The Killing of Steve Roach) Surprisingly enough, Steve was a very caring person; he spent much time volunteering his services to others especially the elderly people in his neighborhood. Steve very often helped them with chores and ran errands for them. He worked, especially often, for a woman named Mary Ann Hughes, who was a 70 year old women. Mary Ann was like a grandmother to him and he showed his appreciation by tending to her needs. But, on December 3, 1993, Steve found Mrs. Hughes counting money in her living room shot her. He had his shot gun laying on the door and he simply shot her, took her money, her credit card, and her car, and fled. He fled from the police for three days and gave himself up to the police. He said, “I don’t know what was going through my mind. I wish I could take it back.” (The Killing of Steve Roach) On January 13, 2000, six years later, Roach died form a lethal injection, after all of his appeals and petitions of clemency have been exhausted (The killing of Steve Roach). Roach’s death by lethal injection was not considered cruel and unusual punishment by the judges that determined his sentence. But how does a judge make a decision of whether or not a man should be sentenced to death? There are six factors that can alter a judge’s decision: judicial philosophy and original intent, precedent, behavioral characteristics, ideology, attitude, and public opinion.
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