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cruel and unusual punishment
law
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Bowers v. Hardwick
- In Bowers v. Hardwick: Majority opinion
… grounds (as a form of cruel and unusual punishment) had that issue been raised in the case. (In 1990, after he had retired from the bench, Powell stated publicly that his vote in the case had probably been a “mistake.”)
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Scalia
- In Antonin Scalia: Judicial philosophy
…Eighth Amendment’s prohibition of “cruel and unusual punishment” cannot be interpreted as inconsistent with capital punishment, because death was a common punishment for felonies when the Bill of Rights was ratified (1791). For Scalia, such interpretive methods were essential to minimizing the judiciary’s role in resolving matters that should…
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