[Wallace T.]

If you are a conservative, and that term has any meaning in an American context, then you should support the theory of understanding the Constitution by the original intent of the Founding Fathers. The "cruel and unusual punishment" language of the Eighth Amendment did not refer to execution per se, but to the horrendous methods sometimes used in its implementation, such as drawing and quartering. It also referred to the harsher types of torture, such as excessive whipping, disfigurement, and castration.

Furthermore, the Tenth Amendment specifically states that those powers not granted to the Federal government in the Constitution were reserved to the states and the people. Prosecution of the crime of murder is the function of state governments, and has been so since the beginning of the republic. The Supreme Court is clearly overstepping its bounds and interfering with states' rights in this matter.

The decision by the Supreme Court is indefensible from an American conservative standpoint.

[JCEccles]

The "cruel and unusual punishment" language of the Eighth Amendment did not refer to execution per se, but to the horrendous methods sometimes used in its implementation, such as drawing and quartering. It also referred to the harsher types of torture, such as excessive whipping, disfigurement, and castration.

Exactly, the death penalty per se is no more a method of execution than St. Louis (or any other destination) is a method of travel.