What does it mean for a punishment to be cruel and unusual?

Answer 1

It means things that are totally unwarranted - like cutting off a thief's hand, or locking someone in a room for half a year because she might be "a witch". Things like that, totally cruel and really not suited to what the actual crime was.

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Over time the phrase "cruel and unusual punishment" has been interpreted many ways. In general the idea is that any punishment imposed in a barbaric, excessive and/or bizarre manner would constitute "cruel and unusual punishment". This has been the basis for many of the more recent appeals of death sentences - arguing that imposing death on another human-being is, by definition, cruel, and/or that since many developed countries have abolished the death penalty as a punishment it would now be considered "unusual". Pillories used to be common but fell into disuse and they are now classified as "cruel and unusual". Some punishments that used to be considered fair are now considered excessive, such as hanging someone for stealing a horse.Some prisons have been forced to upgrade or improve their facilities because the hardships imposed on prisoners - which used to be considered perfectly acceptable and normal are now argued to be cruel and unusual punishment because they are so much worse than what ordinary people endure outside the prisons and jails.

It probably all comes down to what society currently considers to be cruel and unusual.

Answer 2

The punishment can not be tooo cruel and unusual

Ex:putting someone in oven because they stole something that is cruel and unusual