This concept is the subject of a 1975 book by Larry Berkson.  
This concept is the subject of a 1975 book by Larry Berkson.  It was first used to strike down a state law in a case involving drug addiction, Robinson v. California, but the rule established in that case was not followed six years later in a case involving chronic alcoholism, Powell v. Texas.  In one of the first important cases to invoke this concept, Joseph McKenna invalidated a Phillipine statute involving the "cadena temporal."  Prior to Weems v. United States it was only occasionally mentioned, as in a case involving crucifixion, Wilkerson v. Utah, but it has appeared more recently in regard to expatriation in Trop v. Dulles and in a number of cases involving the state of Georgia, including Eberheart, Gregg, and Coker.  Most famously, it was invoked in 1972 to compel 39 states to stop employing the death penalty following Furman v. Georgia.  FTP, give this four-word term for something which is prohibited by the Eighth Amendment.
This concept is the subject of a 1975 book by Larry Berkson.  
cruel and unusual punishment