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Powell v. Texas

Powell v. Texas
Seal of the United States Supreme Court.svg
Supreme Court of the United States
Argued March 7, 1968
Decided June 17, 1968
Full case name Powell v. Texas
Prior history Appeal from the County Court at Law No. 1 of Travis County, Texas.
Holding
The Texas law making it a crime of public intoxication did not constitute cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the Eighth Amendment.
Court membership

Chief Justice
Earl Warren
Case opinions
Majority Marshall, joined by Warren, Black, Harlan
Concurrence Black, joined by Harlan
Concurrence White
Dissent Fortas, joined by Douglas, Brennan, Stewart
Laws applied
U.S. Const. amends. VIII

Powell v. Texas, 392 U.S. 514 (1968), was a United States Supreme Court case which ruled that a Texas statute criminalizing public intoxication did not violate the Eighth Amendment protection against cruel and unusual punishment. It was a 5-4 decision, and the majority opinion was by Justice Thurgood Marshall. Justice Hugo Black and Byron White each wrote separate concurring opinions, and Justice Abe Fortas dissented.

The court's majority concluded that, Powell, the defendant who was convicted of public intoxication, "was convicted, not for being a chronic alcoholic, but for being in public while drunk on a particular occasion." Therefore, the Texas statute was not criminalizing the condition of alcoholism alone, but instead punishing the defendant for his public behavior. The majority distinguished the case from the earlier case Robinson v. California, which ruled that drug addiction alone as a disease could not be criminalized.

See also

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