Hacker News Reader

We just had a ruling a couple months ago, up here in Canada, that a 3-year mandatory minimum sentence involve possession of a loaded firearm was unconstitutional as it is considered "cruel and unusual punishment".

Is such a challenge possible in the USA?

View on HN

Nope.

The US justice system is simply insane, and I've no idea what will bring it back.

> Nope.

I am missing a legal nuance? It seems like a challenge along these lines is possible but unlikely to go very far.

The Supreme Court has upheld three strikes laws that put people in prison for life for low-value non-violent thefts. No number of years for a crime, no matter how minor, seems to be too much. The only challenges that succeed are challenges to unusual applications of the death penalty.

It's possible in the sense that you can submit anything you want. It's not possible in the sense that it'll be dismissed out of hand.

Well 3 years of imprisonment and torture before an indictment isn't considered unconstitutional in the US, apparently (e.g. José Padilla). So we're a long way from Canada's state of enlightenment.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com