chief justice burger dissented and said the case was not comparable to the recent rummel v. estelle ruling since that involved a man merely convicted of fraud. jerry helm had committed burglaries and a dui, actions that had the potential to put human life at risk, and was a repeat offender. the chief justice also believed the court was wrongfully infringing on the right of the states to pursue criminal justice as they saw fit and that the 8th amendment restricted the types of punishments that could be used on offenders, not the length of a prison sentence.
United States