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Execution By Public Shooting Not ‘Cruel And Unusual’ Punishment

1878

In Wilkerson v. Utah, the U.S. Supreme Court rules that it is not “cruel and unusual” punishment to execute a prisoner (convicted of first-degree murder) by public shooting. The court notes that such punishment is imposed by the military when soldiers are found guilty of certain offenses, and if it is allowed in the military, then it is not “cruel and unusual.”