Reflection Paper Four-"Revisiting the Constitution: Clarify What’s Cruel and Unusual Punishment" by Rachel E. Barkow

"Sometimes prison sentences -- even the most severe -- are a rational response to crime. But often, sentences are the product of a political process in which politicians are scared of appearing soft on crime so they do not even question the reasonableness of a proposed criminal law. It is the norm, not the exception, for politicians to reflexively push for harsher sentences without considering empirical evidence about what level of sanction is necessary for deterrence or what impact a sentence will have on communities. It is an environment long on rhetoric and short on reflection.

The Constitution has failed to check this pathological process. The Eighth Amendment bans "cruel and unusual punishments.""

This author speaks about how how often criminals our punished more severely then they should be for the simple fact that the politicians don't want to seem soft. However, this act itself is a violation to the Constitute. The eighth amendment tells us that cruel and unusual punishments are considered illegal. So what is cruel? The author is trying to make the point that overly punishing someone for the sake of one's reputation can be classified as cruel. So the constitution needs to be revised to address and clarify this problem.