5 definitions
Cruel and unusual punishment (n.) is a standard that moves with the century, always one execution behind.
Cruel and unusual punishment (n.) is whatever the last method was, once a new one is for sale.
Cruel and unusual punishment (n.) is judged by nine people in robes and felt by one on a gurney.
Cruel and unusual punishment (n.) is forbidden by a clause that bans the pain and permits the death, which is the whole trick.
Cruel and unusual punishment (n.) is the phrase the Constitution offers the condemned and the courts spend decades defining narrowly.