Further, the Cruel and Unusual Punishments Clause prohibits the imposition of the death penalty for certain crimes, for certain classes of defendants, and in the absence of certain procedures.
The Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibits increasing the maximum authorized sentence for an offense based on a fact not found by a jury.
The Double Jeopardy Clause of the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibits multiple punishments for the same offense.
There, the government sought the forfeiture of $357,144 from Hosep Krikor Bajakajian solely as a penalty for not declaring that amount to Customs when leaving the country.
[8] Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas have argued that the Court should not engage in Eighth Amendment proportionality review at all.
Similarly, the defendant must be allowed to challenge for cause a juror who would impose the death penalty in every capital case.
[27] This principle does not prevent the judge from deciding whether the sentences stemming from a multi-count indictment will be concurrent or consecutive based on judicial fact-finding.
[32] Blockburger is the default rule, unless the legislatively intends to depart; for example, Continuing Criminal Enterprise (CCE) may be punished separately from its predicates,[33] as can conspiracy.