Powell v. Texas

SCOTUSCase
Litigants=Powell v. Texas
ArgueDate=March 7
ArgueYear=1968
DecideDate=June 17
DecideYear=1968
FullName=Powell v. Texas
USVol=392
USPage=514
Citation=
Prior=Appeal from the County Court at Law No. 1 of Travis County, Texas.
Subsequent=
Holding=The Texas law making it a crime of public intoxication did not constitute cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the Eighth Amendment.
SCOTUS=1967-1969
Majority=Marshall
JoinMajority=Warren, Black, Harlan
Concurrence=Black
JoinConcurrence=Harlan
Concurrence2=White
JoinConcurrence2=
Concurrence/Dissent=
JoinConcurrence/Dissent=
Dissent=Fortas
JoinDissent=Douglas, Brennan, Stewart
Dissent2=
JoinDissent2=
LawsApplied=U.S. Const. amends. VIII

"Powell v. Texas", 392 U.S. 514 (1968), was a United States Supreme Court case which ruled that a Texas statute criminalizing public intoxication did not violate the Eighth Amendment protection against cruel and unusual punishment. It was a 5-4 decision, and the majority opinion was by Justice Thurgood Marshall. Justice Hugo Black and Byron White each wrote separate concurring opinions, and Justice Abe Fortas dissented.

The court's majority concluded that, Powell, the defendant who was convicted of public intoxication, "was convicted, not for being a chronic alcoholic, but for being in public while drunk on a particular occasion", so the Texas statute was not criminalizing the condition of alcoholism alone, but instead punishing the defendant for his public behavior. The majority distinguished the case from the earlier case "Robinson v. California", which ruled that drug addiction alone as a disease could not be criminalized.

ee also

*List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 392

External links

*caselaw source
case="Powell v. Texas", 392 U.S. 514 (1968)
enfacto=http://www.enfacto.com/case/U.S./392/514/
justia=http://supreme.justia.com/us/392/514/case.html
* [http://www.oyez.org/cases/1960-1969/1967/1967_405/ Oyez.org entry]