Powell v. Texas

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Powell v. Texas
Supreme Court of the United States
Argued March 7, 1968 Decided June 17, 1968
Full case name	Powell v. Texas
Citations	392 U.S. 514 (more) 88 S. Ct. 2145; 20 L. Ed. 2d 1254
Case history
Prior	Appeal from the County Court at Law No. 1 of Travis County, Texas.
Holding
A Texas law criminalizing public intoxication did not constitute cruel and unusual punishment.
Court membership
Chief Justice Earl Warren Associate Justices Hugo Black · William O. Douglas John M. Harlan II · William J. Brennan Jr. Potter Stewart · Byron White Abe Fortas · Thurgood Marshall
Case opinions
Plurality	Marshall, joined by Warren, Black, Harlan
Concurrence	Black, joined by Harlan
Concurrence	White (in result)
Dissent	Fortas, joined by Douglas, Brennan, Stewart
Laws applied
U.S. Const. amend. VIII

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