re cruel was re political atheists kmr po cwru edu keith m ryan writes they spent quite a bit of time on the wording of the constitution they picked words whose meanings implied the intent we have already looked in the dictionary to define the word isn t this sufficient we only need to ask the question what did the founding fathers consider cruel and unusual punishment hanging hanging there slowing being strangled would be very painful both physically and psychologicall i imagine well most hangings are very quick and i imagine painless firing squad note not a clean way to die back in those days etc all would be considered cruel under your definition all were allowed under the constitution by the founding fathers and hangings and firing squads are allowed today too and if these things were not considered cruel then surely a medical execution painless would not be either keith
