Final answer:
Cesare Beccaria believed that punishment should be swift, certain, and proportional to the crime, which influenced modern legal systems and contributed to the principles behind the Eighth Amendment.
Step-by-step explanation:
According to Cesare Beccaria's ideas, punishment must be swift, certain, and proportional to the crime committed. Beccaria, an Enlightenment philosopher, argued that the purpose of punishment should be to deter crime and that it should be carried out in a manner that would prevent the same crime from being committed by others. His ideas also implied that the legal system should not be a tool for revenge, and punishments should not be cruel or barbarous, as indicated by the fact that the constitution forbids forms of punishment such as torture. Beccaria influenced modern justice systems and was pivotal to the adoption of the Eighth Amendment, which protects against excessive bail, excessive fines, and cruel and unusual punishment. The Code of Hammurabi also suggested that punishment should fit the crime but largely depended on social status, which differed from Beccaria's ideas of fairness and equality before the law.