the Supreme Court ruled that inmates on death row could make last-minute claims that the chemicals in lethal injections are too painful and violate the Constitution's Eighth Amendment.

Because so few Eighth Amendment cases make it to the appeals ... settlement amounts and supplemented this research with news reports and public announcements. BI counted two categories of cases ...

Others say they were assaulted by officers themselves. The Eighth Amendment, which bars "cruel and unusual punishments," was intended by the founders as a bulwark against prisoner abuse. Over the ...