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Law

Evolving Standards of Decency

Quick fact

The Supreme Court first used the phrase 'evolving standards of decency' in 1958 in Trop v. Dulles, where it ruled that stripping a deserter of citizenship was unconstitutional. Chief Justice Warren wrote that the Eighth Amendment's meaning is drawn from 'the evolving standards of decency that mark the progress of a maturing society.'

Why this is interesting

The U.S. Constitution says punishments must not be 'cruel and unusual,' but it never defines what that means. How can a document from 1787 speak to issues like the death penalty today?