“[I]mprisonment . . . for life, for the nonpayment of [a] fine, . . . is a cruel and unusual punishment.”
How later courts described this case
- “[I]mprisonment . . . for life, for the nonpayment of [a] fine, . . . is a cruel and unusual punishment.”
- embezzlement of $288.426 punished by a fine of double that amount or imprisonment in county jail for 288,426 days (i.e., 790 years); State ex rel. Garvey v. Whitaker (1896) 48 La.Ann. 527 [19 So. 457] (fine of $720 or 2,160 days (i.e., nearly 6 years
Written by the judges who cited it.
The opinion
Mr. Justice King
delivered the following dissenting opinion. ■
I concur in the holding by the majority, respecting the unconstitutionality of the fine and jail sentence imposed; but, after a careful re-examination of the able briefs, and argument therein, of the respective counsel, including those on petition for rehearing, I am unable *481 to agree with the conclusion announced, respecting the other, and decisive, points presented. I, accordingly, record my dissent therefrom.