The 7th and 8th Amendments

Lyrics

When it comes to Amendments, not to take away from 7th and 8th

Covering Civil Trials and Further Guaranteed 

Liberties in a Criminal Case, 

But the principle’s the same subliminally

Seven states  “In suits at common law, where the value in controversy,

Shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of a trial by jury shall be preserved, and 

no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise re-examined in any Court of 

the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.” 

Meanwhile, the 8th states: “Excessive bail shall not be required,

Nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflighted.”

Woops! I meant “inflicted”, now you might be thinking, “Young Ben get the gist quick!”

The point of these Amendments was to prevent a second Spanish Inquisition 

With their racks and their gibbets, and other vicious instruments of their discipline

And the jury of your peers would prevent judicial corruption with the goodness of men

And we had grown accustomed to our established state-centered institutions and systems

And after a decade of independence that the states were afraid of our changing jurisdictions 

When we had fought the British, we were 13 different nations, with 13 declarations

Of Rights that spelled out the respective priorities of our states and  Now the states were relegated, displaced,

downgraded, reduced in rank. At least now the feds can’t bring the pain!