Trop v. Dulles
| Trop v. Dulles | |
|---|---|
| Argued May 2, 1957 Reargued October 28–29, 1957 Decided March 31, 1958 | |
| Full case name | Albert L. Trop v. John Foster Dulles, Secretary of State, et al. |
| Citations | 356 U.S. 86 (more) 78 S. Ct. 590; 2 L. Ed. 2d 630; 1958 U.S. LEXIS 1284 |
| Case history | |
| Prior | Both District and Second Circuit Court of Appeals rejected Trop's claim |
| Holding | |
| At least as applied in this case to a native-born citizen of the United States who did not voluntarily relinquish or abandon his citizenship or become involved in any way with a foreign nation, § 401(g) of the Nationality Act of 1940, as amended, which provides that a citizen "shall lose his nationality" by deserting the military or naval forces of the United States in time of war, provided he is convicted thereof by court martial and as a result of such conviction is dismissed or dishonorably discharged from the service, is unconstitutional. | |
| Court membership | |
| |
| Case opinions | |
| Plurality | Warren, joined by Black, Douglas, Whittaker |
| Concurrence | Black, joined by Douglas |
| Concurrence | Brennan |
| Dissent | Frankfurter, joined by Burton, Clark, Harlan |
| Laws applied | |
| U.S. Const. amend. VIII | |
Trop v. Dulles, 356 U.S. 86 (1958), was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court ruled that it was unconstitutional to revoke citizenship as a punishment for a crime. The ruling's reference to "evolving standards of decency" is frequently cited in Eighth Amendment jurisprudence.