cruel and unusual punishment

noun

: punishment that is very harsh and too severe for the crime

The law forbids cruel and unusual punishment.

Examples of cruel and unusual punishment in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The Supreme Court has ruled that executing individuals who were under 18 at the time of the crime or who are intellectually disabled violates the Constitution's ban on cruel and unusual punishment. —Joshua Rhett Miller, MSNBC Newsweek, 25 Apr. 2025

Executing people with intellectual disabilities violates the Eighth Amendment regarding cruel and unusual punishment, the justices ruled, and Kohberger’s lead attorney, Anne Taylor, has argued that the ruling also should apply to those with autism. —Alex Brizee, Idaho Statesman, 3 Apr. 2025

After serving more than 25 years behind bars, he was freed because of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2012 ruling in Miller v. Alabama that mandatory life sentences in prison without parole for minors violated the U.S. Constitution’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment. —Jeremy Gorner, Chicago Tribune, 7 Apr. 2025

But in a brief filed Wednesday, the Attorney General’s Office said Tanzi had not shown that using lethal injection on him would violate the U.S. Constitution’s Eighth Amendment ban on cruel and unusual punishment. —Jim Saunders, The Orlando Sentinel, 28 Mar. 2025

Legal Definition

cruel and unusual punishment

noun

cruel and un·​usu·​al punishment

: punishment that is offensive to the contemporary morality or jurisprudence (as by being degrading, inflicting unnecessary and intentional pain, or being disproportionate to the offense)

nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted

—U.S. Constitution amend. VIII

see also Gregg v. Georgia compare corporal punishment, death penalty

Note: A cruel and unusual punishment is essentially one that the courts consider to violate the Eighth Amendment based on a variety of criteria. The interpretation of what constitutes cruel and unusual punishment has changed over time and has varied from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. Most forms of corporal punishment formerly used at common law have been found to be cruel and unusual punishments.