Legal Opinion
Commonwealth v. Colon-Cruz
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
Decided October 18, 1984PublishedCited by 47 opinions
1Opinion of the CourtLiacos, J.
In District Attorney for the Suffolk Dist. v. Watson, 381 Mass. 648 (1980), this court declared unconstitutional the capital punishment statute, c. 488 of the Acts of 1979. The court held that the penalty of death was impermissibly cruel under art. 26 of the Declaration of Rights of the Massachusetts Constitution.3 That article then provided, in its entirety: “No magistrate or court of law, shall demand excessive bail or sureties, impose excessive fines, or inflict cruel or unusual punishments.”
*152On November 2, 1982, the voters approved a constitutional amendment which added a second and third…
2Cases cited59 opinions
- Bruton v. United StatesSupreme Court of the United States · 1968
- Gregg v. GeorgiaSupreme Court of the United States · 1976
- Lockett v. OhioSupreme Court of the United States · 1978
- Woodson v. North CarolinaSupreme Court of the United States · 1976
- Beck v. AlabamaSupreme Court of the United States · 1980
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3Cited by47 opinions
- Thompson v. OklahomaSupreme Court of the United States · 1988
- State v. DuncanTennessee Supreme Court · 1985
- Commonwealth v. SanchezSupreme Court of Pennsylvania · 2011
- Diatchenko v. District Attorney for the Suffolk DistrictMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 2013
- State v. KleypasSupreme Court of Kansas · 2001
42 more not listed; retrieve them via the Exa API.