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Show SUPREME COURT AROUSESLAWYERS WASHINGTON. May 8. Criminal lawyers throughout the country arc tald to be agitated over the action of the Fupreme court In Inaugurating what Is designated as a new era In the punishment of criminals that of requiring punishment to be proportionate proportion-ate to the offense. The agitation among the legal profession pro-fession arises from the decision of the court last Monday when for the flrol time in Its htHory It set at liberty lib-erty a person convicted of an offense because there had bten inflicted upon him "a cruel and unusual punishment" punish-ment" It was In the case of Paul Weems, an official In the lighthouse nervice In the Philippines. His cuo came under the bill of rights of the Island. The court announced that It must give the same interpretation to that bill of right as "given to the eighth amendment to the constitution." constitu-tion." Thereupon It proceeded to construe this amendment, prohibiting "a cruel and unusual punishment." It waj admitted that the constitution constitu-tion makcrtj have used this phrae only to prohibit the resort to Inhuman methods for causing bodily torture. It had been used to prevent a return to the Roman custom of 3ewtng a parricide parri-cide into a leather bag with a lire dog, a cock, a viper and an ape, and casting it Into the sea. and to the EuglUth cuitom of disemboweling traitors and burning alive women who committed treason. The court decided to regard thefee precedents as mllMtona In the advance ad-vance of civilization and not aa limitation limit-ation on the phrase. "In the application of a censtiiu-tlon." censtiiu-tlon." said Justice McKenna in announcing an-nouncing the decision of the court, "our contemplation cannot be only of what has been, but of what may Le." This be based on th belief that otherwise oth-erwise the general principles of the institution "would have little value and be converted by precedent Into tnipoleul and lifeless formulas." |