The court's modern precedents interpret the Eighth Amendment according to "the evolving standards of decency that mark the progress of a maturing society".
It points to "the evolving standards of decency that mark the progress of a maturing society," an idea that the Supreme Court has evoked in judging the constitutionality of punishments.
In a 1958 Supreme Court case on another matter, the majority had agreed "the cruel and unusual punishments clause must draw its meaning from the evolving standards of decency that mark the progress of a maturing society".
As usual in cases involving the Eighth Amendment, the justices debated whether the Constitution should consider, in a one common formulation, "the evolving standards of decency that mark the progress of a maturing society".
When the method is applied, for example, to the Eighth Amendment's ban on "cruel and unusual" punishment, judges must consider "the evolving standards of decency that mark the progress of a maturing society".
So, for example, the Court in recent years has interpreted the Eighth Amendment's ban on "cruel and unusual" punishment to mean that the death penalty for juveniles or for the mentally retarded is unconstitutional, taking into account this phrase that Scalia just hates: "the evolving standards of decency that mark the progress of a maturing society".
But the court's majority made a point today of citing its prior rulings holding that the definition of cruel and unusual punishment was "not a static concept," but rather a reflection of "evolving standards of decency that mark the progress of a maturing society".
However, the Supreme Court's determination that what constitutes "cruel and unusual" should be dependent on the "evolving standards of decency that mark the progress of a maturing society" leaves us with little protection in the face of a society lacking in morals altogether.
And the Supreme Court's determination that what constitutes "cruel and unusual" should be dependent on the "evolving standards of decency that mark the progress of a maturing society" leaves us with little protection in the face of a society lacking in morals altogether.
Those liquid, burden-of-decency basset-hound eyes.
