Civil Liberty: No Cruel or Unusual Punishments
The American Constitution bars “cruel and unusual punishment,” but the Glossip v. Gross Supreme Court Case sheds light on the questionable grey areas of that civil liberty. On April 29, 2014, Oklahoma State Penitentiary executed Clayton Lockett using a three-drug lethal injection procedure, which included the drug midazolam. The cocktail was supposed to leave Lockett unconscious; however, he awoke after the injection only to suffer for forty minutes before finally dying. The drug was supposed to leave the user unconscious, so it could bring about death in a humane, painless way. The event prompted the prison to temporarily pause all death sentences until Lockett’s case could be deeply investigated,…show more content… A federal district court denied the injunction because of insufficient evidence regarding the drug. On January 15, 2015, the Supreme Court declined to grant the petition for an appeal, and Charles Warner was subsequently executed. Richard E. Glossip and the other two death row inmates petitioned the Court again. Justice Samuel A. Alito, Jr. delivered the opinion of the 5-4 majority. The federal district court held that there was insufficient evidence that the use of midazolam as the initial drug in the execution protocol entailed a substantial risk of severe pain, compared to known and available alternatives, in violation of the Eighth Amendment. (Oyez Project,…show more content… The prior rules were in place to ensure a free and open internet, giving users equal access and preventing providers, such as Verizon or Comcast, from downplaying material from other providers and favoring their own. The new rules require providers to tell customers if content will be slowed or not available at all. Although bound by only their word, Verizon Communications, Comcast Corp, and AT&T have all pledged not to discriminate against legal content after net neutrality rules expire on June 11, 2018.
Years ago, the average American had no idea what net neutrality meant, but now many understand a lot of the liberties we take for granted may be stripped away, thanks to coverage from mainstream media and alarming commentary on social media. The media got people talking about net neutrality and why it mattered, but it also turned many against the FCC, the very government agency responsible for dismantling it. Most U.S citizens want free and open resources—they do not want their internet experience decompartmentalized for profit. (Politics,
