The Eighth Amendment and Its Future in a New Age of Punishment

Meghan J. Ryan is the Associate Dean for Research and Altshuler Distinguished Teaching Professor at Southern Methodist University (SMU) Dedman School of Law in Dallas, TX. An award-winning scholar and teacher, her work spans the areas of criminal law & procedure, law & science, and torts. Her writing focuses primarily on the U.S. Supreme Court's Eighth Amendment jurisprudence, wrongful convictions and sentencing, and the roles of science and technology in the law. She is also engaged in interdisciplinary projects such as collaborating with engineers and statisticians to find a scientific basis for various forms of forensic evidence. William W. Berry III is a Professor of Law and Montague Professor at the University of Mississippi School of Law, where he teaches and writes about criminal law, focusing on issues related to criminal sentencing and the death penalty. He has published extensively on the Eighth Amendment, including articles in the Texas Law Review, Southern California Law Review, UCLA Law Review, and Washington University Law Review, among others. He is also co-author of several books, including Criminal Law (Ninth Edition, 2020).

Part I. A History of the Eighth Amendment: 1. From the Founding to the Present: An Overview of Legal Thought and the Eighth Amendment's Evolution John D. Bessler; 2. Back to the Future: Originalism and the Eighth Amendment John F. Stinneford; 3. Eighth Amendment Federalism Michael J. Zydney Mannheimer; Part II. The Landscape of Eighth Amendment Doctrine; 4. Eighth Amendment Values William W. Berry III and Meghan J. Ryan; 5. The Power, Problems, and Potential of “Evolving Standards of Decency” Corinna Barrett Lain; 6. Judicial Hesitancy and Majoritarianism William W. Berry III; 7. Punishment Purposes and Eighth Amendment Disproportionality Richard S. Frase; 8. The Administrative Law of the Eighth Amendment Richard A. Bierschbach; 9. Evading the Eighth Amendment: Prison Conditions and the Courts Sharon Dolovich; 10. Excessive Deference—The Eighth Amendment Bail Clause Samuel R. Wiseman; 11. Nor Excessive Fines Imposed Beth A. Colgan; Part III. The Future of the Eighth Amendment; 12. Judicial Abolition of the American Death Penalty Under the Eighth Amendment: The Most Likely Path Carol Steiker and Jordan Steiker; 13. Back to the Future with Execution Methods Deborah W. Denno; 14. Evolving Standards of Lethal Injection Eric Berger; 15. The Future of Juvenile Life Without Parole Sentences Cara H. Drinan; 16. Metrics of Mayhem: Quantifying Capriciousness in Capital Cases Sherod Thaxton; 17. Race Discrimination in Punishment Jeffrey L. Kirchmeier; 18. Science and the Eighth Amendment Meghan J. Ryan