no cruel or unusual punishment :
"
The Eighth Amendment (Amendment VIII) to the United States Constitution is the part of the United States Bill of Rights which prohibits the federal government from imposing excessive bail, excessive fines or cruel and unusual punishments. The phrases employed originate in the English Bill of Rights of 1689. In Louisiana ex rel. Francis v. Resweber 329 U.S. 459 (1947), the Supreme Court assumed that the Cruel and Unusual Punishments Clause applied to the states. In Robinson v. California, 370 U.S. 660 (1962), the Court ruled that clause did apply to the states through the Fourteenth Amendment. The Court has not ruled on whether the Excessive Bail or Excessive Fines Clauses apply to the states."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eighth_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution