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U.S. Supreme Court Case Excerpts: Capital Punishment and Eighth Amendment Issues

For those who would like a better understanding of the Supreme Court’s decisions on capital punishment issues and Eighth Amendment questions, the following case excerpts are provided. These cases involve some of the Court’s most important rulings on the death penalty and on cruel and unusual punishment. Each excerpt provides a description of the facts in the case as well as condensed versions of the justices opinions. Each opinion has been edited to remove material that does not focus on the central issue of the case as well as footnotes and extraneous material. What remains is the central portion of each opinion, written in the justices’ own words.