ABSTRACT
Chief Justice Warren's statement in Trop about the nature of punishment and its changing character has become a staple in litigation about punishment and prisoners' rights. Trop v. Dulles, 356 US 86, involved the involuntary removal of US citizenship from a native-born citizen. The Supreme Court's decision in the case was noteworthy in two respects: The first was the Court's consideration of the national government's role in denationalizing citizens, and the second was the Court's views on interpreting the Eighth Amendment and its prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment. The Eighth Amendment came into play in the controversy when the Court classified the forfeiture of nationality as punishment. Chief Justice Warren wrote, "The Amendment must draw its meaning from the evolving standards of decency that mark the progress of a maturing society." In other words, society's ideas as to the appropriateness of punishments shift over time; for example, punishments such as public whippings and hangings have been discarded.
