California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from People v. Hargis, Consolidated Cases No. F067352, Consolidated Cases No. F068398, F067598 (Cal. App. 2015):
"The Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution applies to the states. [Citation.] It prohibits the infliction of 'cruel and unusual' punishment. [Citation.] Article I, section 17 of the California Constitution prohibits infliction of '[c]ruel or unusual' punishment.... The distinction in wording is 'purposeful and substantive rather than merely semantic. [Citations.]' [Citation.] As a result, we construe the state constitutional provision 'separately from its counterpart in the federal Constitution. [Citation.]' [Citation.] This does not make a difference from an analytic perspective, however [citation] .... The touchstone in each [provision] is gross disproportionality. [Citations.] Whether a punishment is cruel and/or unusual is a question of law subject to our independent review, but underlying disputed facts must be viewed in the light most favorable to the judgment. [Citations.]" (People v. Palafox (2014) 231 Cal.App.4th 68, 82-83.)
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