site of the first shots fired in world war ii and to meet with the former president of poland, lech kaczynski>> the political parties are holding their platforms in advance of their summer conventions. democrats are holding public hearings in minnesota this weekend, followed a few weeks later with their final recommendations in detroit. in mid-august, republicans will be in florida. c-span's coverage continues august 10 with the reform party in philadelphia, followed by the republican national convention with live gavel-to-gavel coverage beginning monday, august 27. the democratic national convention live from charlotte, north carolina, starting monday, september 3. >> it was clear that when that eighth amendment was ratified, the death penalty was not considered to be prohibited. indeed, the death penalty existed in all the states and was the only penalty for felony. for somebody today to say that someone -- somehow the american people have prohibited the states by ratifying the constitution,