would this this fall under cruel and unusual punishment?

[Javaman]

suppose you kill someone and that someone has debt. you now take on that debt of that person.

[jimfields33]

1. I can't imagine that being legal.

What if a homeless person kill kills someone? No way can they possibly pay back the persons debt. Plus, typically the person doing the killing ends up in jail with no income coming in due to loss of job amongst other things.

[Javaman]

2. but don't similar situations arise in civil trials?

where someone is sued in civil court and loses and now is unable to pay the settlement

[jimfields33]

6. Maybe. But I've noticed that rich people get sued in civil court more then regular economic

Persons.

[Ocelot II]

7. First of all, completely insolvent people usually don't get sued in the first place.

If there's no chance of recovery a lawsuit is pointless. In most cases, though, there will be insurance, or a judgment lien can be placed on the losing defendant's assets. But unlike the suggestion in the OP, it's not a situation where a debt is transferred to someone else without the consent of the creditor.

[Ocelot II]

3. Section I, Clause 10 of the Constitution says:

"No State shall ... pass any ... Law impairing the Obligation of Contracts." This basically says that no State can pass a law revoking, invalidating, or altering a contract. Since a debt arises from a contract between the creditor and the debtor, making someone else responsible for paying the debt without the consent of the creditor alters the contract - and if the murderer is in prison, chances are he will have no ability to repay the debt, thereby harming the innocent creditor. So it's both a bad idea and unconstitutional, but not for the reason you suggested.

[Javaman]

4. Thanks. :) I knew it was a kind of squishy idea, but thanks for pointing out the the section :)

Cheers!

[BeerBarrelPolka]

5. You

You seem to always have the most informative posts. I want to thank you for sharing your knowledge here.