Statute
Eighth Amendment
818 published works
Ex Libris Juris
Gregg v. Georgia at 50: The Case That Reshaped Capital Sentencing in the United States
Image by Kabomani-Tapir from Pixabay In 2026, the United States marks the 50th anniversary of the Supreme Court’s decision in Gregg v. Georgia, a landmark ruling that restored capital punishment…
Bill of Health
Hamm v. Smith: The Limits of Legal Certainty when Science Evolves
By Erin Lynch
Scientific Evidence Hamm v. Smith: The Limits of Legal Certainty when Science Evolves Can states keep IQ testing people sentenced to death until they get the “right” score for execution?…
Government Enforcement, Compliance & Investigations Report
Modern Criminal Forfeiture: Constitutional Limits and Practical Realities
By Jonathan Porter, Jennifer Cavner, Madison Rector
In white-collar criminal cases, forfeiture is one of the most consequential sentencing components, yet it remains overlooked and misunderstood by practitioners. The U.S. Court of Appeals, Second Circuit’s recent decision…
Criminal
Focus on Florida’s potential to reconsider constitutionality of death penalty for child rape
A few months ago over at the Sentencing Matters Substack, I penned this short essay about Eighth Amendment issues surround state efforts to subject certain child rapists to the death penalty. That essay,…
Understanding the ADA
Eighth Amendment, Title II, and Nondelegable Duty
Today’s blog entry is a published decision from the Third Circuit, Montanez v. Price, here decided on October 8, 2025 (which was my birthday). It discusses a series of issues,…
Legal Theory Blog
Jefferis on Excessive Force and Legal Expressivism
Danielle C. Jefferis (University of Nebraska at Lincoln - College of Law) has posted Our Progressively Brutal Constitution: A Legal Expressivist Account of the Excessive Force Doctrine on SSRN. Here…
Sentencing Law and Policy
Effective review of some state echoes of Eighth Amendment limits on extreme juve sentences
This new Law360 article, headlined "Appeals Courts Rethink Harsh Youth Sentences, Search Rules," details some of the ways state courts have been extending the US Supreme Court's Eighth Amendment jurisprudence…
Legal Theory Blog
Jefferis on Excessive Force
Danielle C. Jefferis (University of Nebraska at Lincoln - College of Law) has posted Our Progressively Brutal Constitution: A Legal Expressivist Account of the Excessive Force Doctrine on SSRN. Here…
Criminal
Effective review of some state echoes of Eighth Amendment limits on extreme juve sentences
This new Law360 article, headlined "Appeals Courts Rethink Harsh Youth Sentences, Search Rules," details some of the ways state courts have been extending the US Supreme Court's Eighth Amendment jurisprudence…
Legal Theory Blog
Harmon et al on Execution of Persons with Intellectual Disabilities
Talia Roitberg Harmon (Niagara University), Michael L. Perlin (New York Law School), Maren Geiger (Niagara University, Department of Criminal Justice), Lea Roitberg (Niagara University), & Stacy Bielic (Niagara University) have…