Abstract : The brief and ambiguous wording of the Eighth Amendment has permitted courts to adopt a variety of interpretations. These interpretations have been applied inconsistently through different periods of the Amendment’s history, but the U.S. Supreme Court has never established a singular, definitive method for interpreting the Amendment. That is, until the 2024 decision in City of Grants Pass, Oregon v. Johnson, where the Court rejects any interpretation of the Eighth