Georgia Magazine - April 2012 - (Page 7)

Liberty notes Protections against excessive measures Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive ﬁnes imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inﬂicted. —Eighth Amendment Arbitrary rules and ﬁnes and torturous executions are the stuff of tyrants, and the authors of the Bill of Rights abhorred such things. They drafted the Eighth Amendment not because they were against the punishment of evildoers, but because they sought a society that was more humane. While they wanted appropriate punishments for crimes, the barbaric practices of English kings and others throughout history inﬂuenced them to choose a different path. Rights of the accused were to be upheld, and clear standards for how the condemned should be treated were also of great importance. The Excessive Bail Clause can be traced back to the 1689 English Bill of Rights. In the United States, the Judiciary Act of 1789, passed by the First Congress, guaranteed the right to bail except in cases of capital offenses, according to Law Professor David Forte, writing in “The Heritage Guide to the Constitution.” Even before they approved the Bill of Rights, members of Congress did not consider the right to bail to be absolute. The Eighth Amendment banned excessive ﬁnes, also in accordance with the English Bill of Rights. Under the Stuart kings of England, according to Forte, ﬁnes were imposed on enemies of the king, and the enemies were jailed when they couldn’t pay. —Jim Jess For more about the Eighth Amendment and “cruel and web exclusive unusual exclusive web punishment” and information about a Constitution contest for students, see page 50B of the April 2012 digital edition online at www.georgiamagazine.org. April 2012 Picture this? Guess where this is and you could Win $25! Welcome to “Picture this?” a contest where we print a reader’s photo showing a Georgia place—and you get a chance to guess where the picture was taken! We will reward the reader whose photo is published—as well as the person who correctly guesses where it was taken—with $25 each. We’ll draw the winner from all correct answers. Winners’ names and where the photo was taken will appear in a future issue. Ready to guess? Send your guess by April 20, 2012, to GEORGIA Magazine, Attn: “Picture this,” P.O. Box 1707, Tucker, GA 30085, or email to picturethis@georgiaemc.com. Be sure to include your name, address and phone number. Have a photo? Send your original photos of locations that are easy to identify, but not too prominent, to the address above, or email 300-dpi photos to picturethis@georgiaemc. com. Please send photos and guesses separately. Our winners from the January 2012 issue are Katy Sides, of Toccoa, who took the photo, and Jean E. Strong, of Eastanollee, who correctly guessed that it is Travelers Rest Historic Site in Toccoa. Many readers sent or emailed correct guesses. According to gastateparks.org, this stagecoach inn and plantation home was built around 1815 by James R. Wyly along the Unicoi Turnpike, a newly constructed highway over the Appalachian Mountains. The state purchased the property in 1955, and it was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1964. Celebrating the Georgia lifestyle GEMC ® JANUARY 2012 More online at www.georgiamagazine.org 7 http://www.gastateparks.org http://www.georgiamagazine.org http://www.georgiamagazine.org http://www.georgiamagazine.org http://www.georgiamagazine.org

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Georgia Magazine - April 2012

Georgia Magazine - April 2012
Contents
Viewpoint
Mailbox
Liberty Notes
Picture This?
Georgia News
Calendar of Events
Festival Guide
Currents
‘Zamily’ ties
Horses, hats and hospitality
Around Georgia
Head for the border
Travel Guide
Georgia Gardens
Georgia Cooks
Snapshot

Georgia Magazine - April 2012