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Preferred term

cruel and unusual punishment  

Definition

  • All governments sanction some kind of punishment to penalize people who violate their laws. In ancient Athens, the birthplace of democratic government, punishment ranged from fines to execution in rare cases such as the murder of an Athenian by a foreigner. [Source: U.S. Constitution A to Z; Cruel and Unusual Punishment]

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URI

https://concepts.sagepub.com/social-science/concept/cruel_and_unusual_punishment

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