The death penalty is unconstitutional in all cases that do not involve homicide or crimes against the state such as treason and "drug kingpin activity". Decided June 25, 2008 (argued April 16, 2008). Opinion of the Court: Anthony Kennedy → go there Dissenting: Alito. Applied: the Eighth Amendment → go there Applied: the Fourteenth Amendment → go there Topic: Capital punishment. Kennedy v. Louisiana, 554 U.S. 407 (2008), is a landmark decision by the Supreme Court of the United States which held that the Eighth Amendment's Cruel and Unusual Punishments Clause prohibits the imposition of the death penalty for a crime in which the victim did not die and the victim's death was not intended. Wiki link