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key case
In ''Trop v. Dulles'', 356 U.S. 86 (1958), a 5-4 [[U.S. Supreme Court]] invalidated a federal statute that authorized the revocation of citizenship of someone born in the [[United States]] based on his desertion from the armed forces as a soldier. The Court held that the [[Eighth Amendment]] did not permit this revocation of citizenship as punishment for a crime.

Chief Justice [[Earl Warren]] wrote the opinion, but only prevailed by:

*taking the unusual step of scheduling a second argument in the subsequent term of the Court for the case
*being joined by Justice [[William Brennan]] in a concurrence on separate grounds

Chief Justice Warren included this famous quote about the [[Eighth Amendment]]: "The Amendment must draw its meaning from the evolving standards of decency that mark the progress of a maturing society." Justice [[Antonin Kennedy]] later cited that holding in invalidating the death penalty for crimes committed by someone under the age of 18, in ''[[Roper v. Simmons]]''.

Chief Justice Warren noted that on 81 prior occasions the [[U.S. Supreme Court]] had invalidated a law as unconstitutional. Before 1855, the [[U.S. Supreme Court]] had declared only one law as unconstitutional, in ''[[Marbury v. Madison]]''.

Justice [[Felix Frankfurter]] wrote a strong dissent.
[[category:US Supreme Court Cases]]
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