Weems V. United States

Weems v. United States, 217 U.S. 349 (1910), was a decision of the United States Supreme Court. It is primarily notable as it pertains to the prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment. It is cited concerning the Constitutional meaning of "privacy" and the scope of what is to receive legal protection as “private”. This decision also discussed the political and legal relationship between the United States and the Philippines, which at that time was considered a U.S. colony (see Philippine-American War for more information).

Read more about Weems V. United States:  Background, Arguments, Decision, Dissent, Citation Regarding 'Enduring Constitutional Rights', Including Privacy, See Also

Famous quotes containing the words united states, united and/or states:

    An alliance is like a chain. It is not made stronger by adding weak links to it. A great power like the United States gains no advantage and it loses prestige by offering, indeed peddling, its alliances to all and sundry. An alliance should be hard diplomatic currency, valuable and hard to get, and not inflationary paper from the mimeograph machine in the State Department.
    Walter Lippmann (1889–1974)

    In the United States, though power corrupts, the expectation of power paralyzes.
    John Kenneth Galbraith (b. 1908)

    On 16 September 1985, when the Commerce Department announced that the United States had become a debtor nation, the American Empire died.
    Gore Vidal (b. 1925)